THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT, 

An  Economic  History  and  Practical 
Manual   of  the   Wheat   Industry 


By 
PETER  TRACY  DONDLINGER,  Ph.  D. 

Formerly  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  Fairmount  College 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW   YORK 

ORANGE  JUDD  COMPANY 

LONDON 

KEGAN  PAUL,  TRENCH,  TRUBNER  &  Co.,  Limited 
1916 


,i 


COPYRIGHT  1908,  BY 
ORANGE  JUDD  COMPANY 

All  Rights  Reserved 

.'ENTERED  AT  STATIONERS'  HALL,  LONDON,  KNOLAND] 


Printed  in  V  $•  A, 


To 
WILLIAM  GRAHAM  SUMNER,  LL.D. 

Pelatiah  Peril  Professor  of  Political  and  Social  Science 
in  Yale  University, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED 

for  his  guiding  instruction  and  the  encouragement  received  from  his 
friendship  and  sterling  character  link  the  volume  with  the  hon- 
ored name  of  one  of  the  greatest  lights  of  our  generation 


371400 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

In  addition  to  individual  acknowledgments  made  throughout 
the  volume,  I  wish  to  express  my  gratitude  to  those  who  have 
aided  in  the  work  by  many  kindnesses  in  the  way  of  advice  and 
suggestion,  and  by  the  furnishing  of  various  data.     My  acknowl- 
edgments  are  due   primarily  and   chiefly  to  Professor  W.   G. 
Sumner   and   Dr.   J.   Pease   Norton— to   the   former  for  that 
general  aid  and  counsel  that  can  be  offered  only  after  wide 
historical  research,  and  for  reading  and  criticising  a  large 
tion  of  the  work;  to  the  latter  for  his  indefatigable  kindnes 
giving  continuous  aid  in  obtaining  material,  and  in  giving 
of  a  technical  nature.     Much  assistance  and  encouragement  ... 
given  by  Mr.  M.  A.  Carleton,  Cerealist  of  the  United  Statip, 
Department  of  Agriculture;  by  Mr.  Wm.  Saunders,  Director  of j 
the  Central  Experimental  Farm,  Canada;  and  by  Mr.  W.  M. 
Hays,  Assistant  Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States' 
One  of  the  most  important  of  the  several  institutions  which 
are  now  expending  considerable  financial  resources  in  economic 
and  industrial  research  is  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Wash- 
ington, from  which  financial  aid  has  been  received  in  some  of 
the  investigations  necessitated  by  the  preparation  of  this  vol- 
ume.    Through  the  kind  offices  of  Mr.  P.  B.  Smith,  President  of 
the  Minneapolis  Chamber  of  Commerce,  material  encouragement 
has  also  been  received  from  the  St.  Anthony  and  Dakota  Ele- 
vator Company  and  from  the  Washburn-Crosby  Company. 

For  carefully  reading  over  the  typewritten  manuscript  of  the 
book  and  suggesting  many  improvements  in  diction  and  phrase- 
ology, I  am  indebted  to  my  former  pupil,  Miss  Elizabeth  Hodg- 
son. She  is  not  to  be  held  responsible,  however,  for  any  im- 
perfections in  language  that  may  yet  remain,  inasmuch  as  I 
made  all  final  corrections  and  changes.— [The  Author. 


vi 


PREFACE 

The  great  industries  which  have  been  essential  to  the  rise  of 
state  or  nation  have  never  received  the  attention  which  their 
importance  should  command,  and  the  chronicling  of  their  events 
greatly  extends  the  meaning  of  economics  and  history  proper 
Industrial   history   has   indeed   received   a   certain   amount   c 
consideration,  but  in  the  main  it  has  been  somewhat  desultory, 
aad  the  field  is  so  new  that  only  a  few  of  the  great  basic  m- 
itriee,  such  as  those  of  cotton,  corn,  alfalfa  and  coal,  have 
been  attempted.    It  is  my  purpose  in  this  book  to  add 


. 

Bother   volume    to    the   industrial-economic    literature    which 
Seals  with  industries  in  their  entirety.    While  many  important 
%orks  are  available  that  cover  certain  phases  of  the  wheat  in- 
dustry very  adequately,  and  a  few  which  cover  a  number  of 
phases  very  admirably  for  the  limited  space  that  is  devoted 
them,  there  is,  however,  no  general  work  treating  the  entire 
subject  as  completely  and  extensively  as  is  merited  by  the  in- 
dustry which  furnishes  the  most  staple  food  of  the   civilized 
world.    Unquestionably  the  need  of  such  a  book  on  wh< 

patent.  ,. 

A  work  of  this  nature  is  of  direct  or  indirect  interest  to  all 
consumers  of  bread.  The  historical  or  evolutionary  aspect  i: 
of  universal  significance.  Those  directly  interested  in  the 
wheat  industry,  whether  as  growers,  dealers,  or  millers,  not 
only  should  be  familiar  with  the  technicalities  of  the  phase 
the  industry  in  which  they  are  engaged,  but  they  should  have 
accessible  a  general  knowledge  of  the  whole  industry.  No  ag- 
ricultural college  or  experiment  station  should  be  without  a 
text-book  on  the  subject.  The  agricultural  or  economic  section  of 
every  library  should  certainly  contain  a  general  reference  book 
on  wheat  The  method  of  treating  the  subject  demanded  by 


vii 


Vlll  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

these  needs  was  one  that  would  appeal  to  the  popular  reader 
as  well  as  to  the  student,  instructor  and  experimenter.  Treated 
from  the  American  point  of  view,  the  subject  demanded  a  less 
detailed  consideration  for  foreign  countries. 

The  book  is  the  result  of  fifteen  years  of  personal  experience 
in  the  wheat  fields  of  our  Northwest,  and  of  a  careful  study  of 
the  works  listed  in  the  appended  bibliography.  Not  a  little 
additional  information  was  obtained  from  several  hundred  let- 
ters written  on  phases  of  the  subject  with  which  I  was  not 
sufficiently  familiar,  and  concerning  which  little  material  that 
was  recent  or  reliable  could  be  found  in  the  literature.  Space 
limited  the  references  in  footnotes  to  the  most  important  ones. 
If  more  detailed  information  is  desired  on  certain  subjects  than 
the  limits  of  the  book  have  permitted,  references  quite  ample 
for  all  purposes  will  be  found  in  the  topical  index  of  authors 
included  in  the  bibliography.  P.  T.  D. 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  May  1,  1908. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I     Wheat  Grain  and  Plant 1 

II.     Improvement        29 

III.  Natural  Environment 47 

IV.  Cultivation 58 

V.     Harvesting 73 

VI.     Yield  and  Cost  of  Production 100 

VII.     Crop  Rotation  and  Irrigation 108 

VIII.    Fertilizers 124 

IX.     Diseases .148 

X.     Insect   Enemies 170 

XI.     Transportation 188 

Xll.     Storage        201- 

XIII.  Marketing 214 

XIV.  Prices           234 

XV.     Milling 262 

XVI.  Consumption 283 

XVII.  Production  and  Movement 303 

Classification  of  Wheat 321 

Bibliography 326 

Index  359 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The  Bonanza  Harvester Frontispiece 

Development  of  Wheat  Plant 3 

Distribution  of  Wheat  Varieties 9 

Root  System  of  Wheat  Plant .  12 

Organs  of  Wheat  Reproduction 14 

Coats  of  a  Wheat  Kernel  .     . 15 

Cross  Section  of  Wheat  Grain 16 

A  Stool  of  Wheat 17 

Opening  of  Wheat  Flowers 20 

Harvesting  Minnesota  Blue   Stem  Wheat 34 

Crossing  as  a  Cause  of  Variation 38 

Diagram  of  Pedigree  of  Hybrid 42 

Durum  Wheat  Districts 48 

Wheat  Plants  from  Good  and  Poor  Seed 52 

Combined  Steam  Plow,  Harrow  and  Seeder 60 

Typical  Farm  Wheat  Drill 64 

A  Modern  Press  and  Disc  Drill 67 

Typical  Force  Feed  Broadcast  Seeder 68 

Forms  of  Early  Sickles  and  Scythes 79 

Early  and  Modern  Cradles 80 

Gallic   Header 81 

Wheat  Header  in  Operation 82 

An  Early  English  Reaper 85 

A  Modern  Self-Rake  Reaper 86 

A  Modern  Self -Binding  Harvester 87 

Section  of  a  Modern   Threshing  Machine 98 

Combined  Harvester  and  Thresher 104 

Typical  Wheat  Field  Where  Rotation  is  Followed  ...  112 

Furrow  Method  of  Irrigation 120 

Twenty  Self -Binding  Harvesters  at  Work 128 

Combined  Grain  and  Fertilizer  Drill 135 

Three  Threshing  Outfits  at  Work 156 

X 


ILLUSTRATIONS  XI 

PAGE 

Sections   of   Smutted    Wheat   Straw 158 

Stinking  and  Loose  Smut 159 

Aecidia  on  Barberry  .     .     .     „ 162 

Two  Forms  of  Rust   Spores ..'...  163 

Black  and  Red  Rust 364 

Hessian    Fly            171 

Hessian  Fly  on  Wheat 172 

Chinch   Bug             174 

Wheat  Midge           176 

Wheat   Plant   Louse 177 

Rocky  Mountain  Grasshopper 178 

Grain  Aphis   or   Green  Bug 180 

Granary   Weevil 182 

Grain   Moth              183 

Flour   Moth             184 

Transportation  of  Wheat  on  Water  . 191 

Typical  Small  Storage  Elevators 202 

Storage  in  Open  on  a  Farm 210 

Wheat  Awaiting  Shipment  by  River 216 

Storage  at  Primary  Market 236 

Mexican  Hand  Stone 262 

American  Indian  Foreign  Mortar 263 

The  Quern  Mill 264 

Details  of  a  Dutch  Windmill 266 

Section  of  Large  Modern  Flour  Mill .  272 

New   Buffalo   Flour    Mill 278 

Field  of  Durum  Wheat 292 

American  Reaper  in  Russian  Wheat 306 


THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

CHAPTER  I. 
WHEAT  GRAIN  AND  PLANT 

ORIGIN. 

The  Word  Wheat  can  be  traced  back  through  the  Middle 
English  whete  to  Old  English  hwaete,  which  is  allied  to  hwit, 
white.  The  German  Weizen  is  related  to  weisz,  which  also 
means  white.  The  French  ble  suggests  blemir,  to  grow  pale. 
Perhaps  wheat  was  called  white,  to  distinguish  it  from  rye  and 
other  dark  colored  grains.  Triticum,  the  botanical  and  classical 
name,  doubtless  comes  from  tritus,  which  is  a  participle  from 
the  Latin  terere,  to  grind.  The  Italian  frumento,  and  the 
similar  French  froment,  are  descended  from  the  Latin  word 
for  corn  or  grain,  frumcntum,  which  originated  in  frux,  fruit. 
The  Spanish  trigo  has  evolved  through  French  and  Latin  from 
the  Greek  trigonon,  which  has  for  its  roots  tri,  three,  and 
gonia,  a  corner  or  angle.  Thus  the  most  widely  used  names 
of  the  wheat  plant  were  determined  by  the  characteristics  of 
the  seed,  as  color,  shape,  the  property  of  having  to  be  ground 
for  food,  and  the  natural  relation  of  the  seed  to  the  plant. 

The  Geographical  Origin  of  wheat  has  never  been  certainly 
determined.  Such  evidence  as  exists  seems  to  point  to  Mesopo- 
tamia, but  this  is  largely  a  matter  of  opinion.  While  wheat 
has  been  found  growing  apparently  wild,  the  doubt  always 
seems  to  remain  that  it  may  have  simply  escaped  from  culti- 
vation. However,  the  belief  that  wheat  once  grew  wild  in  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris  valleys,  and  spread  from  these  to  the 
rest  of  the  world,  has  wider  acceptance  than  any  other.  De 
Candolle's  conviction  rests  largely  on  the  evidence  of  Berosus 
and  Strabo,  while  Lippert,  in  addition  to  the  former,  also 
cites  Olivier  and  Andre  Michaux.  Darwin  appears  to  have 
favored  the  same  theory.  From  this  center  wheat  is  sup- 
posed to  have  spread  to  Phoenicia  and  Egypt.  The  Chinese 
considered  it  a  gift  from  heaven.  Homer  and  Diodorus 
Siculus  say  that  it  grew  wild  in  Sicily.  Humboldt  denies 


WHEAT. 


the  claim  of  Hermandez  that  a  wheat  native  to  Chili  was 
found.  The  Egyptian  historian,  Manetho,  attributed  its  dis- 
covery to  Isis. 

The  Historical  Origin  of  wheat  is  unknown.  The  most  an- 
cient languages  mention  it,  and  under  different  names. 
Whether  we  assume  that  these  names,  with  the  languages  in 
which  they  are  found,  became  differentiated  from  a  common 
parent,  or  whether  we  assume  that  wheat  evolved  and  spread 
over  the  Old  World  so  independently  of  man  that  its  name 
did  not  accompany  its  progress,  in  either  case  a  period  of 
time  long  enough  to  antedate  our  oldest  languages  will  be 
required.  The  fact  that  it  has  been  found  in  the  prehistoric 
habitations  of  man,  notably  in  the  earliest  Swiss  lake  dwell- 
ings, is  proof  of  its  antiquity. 

The  Swiss  of  the  neolithic  period  cultivated  four  distinct 
species  of  wheat.  Wheat  seems  to  have  been  cultivated  in 
China  3,000  years  B.  C.,  and  was  a  chief  crop  in  ancient 
Egypt  and  Palestine.  The  Bible  first  mentions  wheat  in 
Genesis,  Chap.  30,  v.  14. 

Biological  Origin.  —  The  botanist  calls  wheat  a  grass.  The 
evolutionist  has  ascended  the  biological  stream  one  stage  far- 
ther, and  calls  it  a  degenerate  and  degraded  lily,  using  these 
terms,  of  course,  in  an  evolutionary  sense.  He  assumes  a 
great  group  of  plants  of  a  primitive  type  from  which  sprang 
first  the  brilliantly  colored  lilies,  then  the  degraded  rushes  and 
sedges,  and  lastly  the  still  more  degenerate  grasses.  From 
these  grasses  man  developed  the  cereals,  and  among  them 


CLASSIFICATION    OF    THE    GRASS    FAMILY. 


GRAMINE^E 


Spikelets 

One 
Flowered 


Spikelets 
Many- 
Flowered 


Maydeae:  Com-Teosinte-Tribes 

Andropogoneae :  Sugar  Cane-Sorghum 

Zoysiese 

Tristeginess 

Paniceae:  Millet-Hungarian  Grass 

Oryzeae:  Indian  Rice-Rice 

Phalardiese :  Canary  and  Sweet  Vernal  Grass 

Agrostideae :  Timothy-Red  Top 

Aveneae:  Oats 

Festuceae:    Blue  Grass-Bromus-Orchard-Grass  Fescues 

Chlorideae:  Grama  and  Buffalo  Grass 

Hordeae :  Wheat-Barley-Rye-English  Rye-Grass 

Bambusese:  Bamboo 


>  Minn.  Bui.  62,  p.  392. 


THE      WHEAT      GRAIN      AND      PLANT  3 

wheat.  This  is  the  hypothesis  that  accounts  for  most  of  the 
facts  involved.  All  of  the  grass  family,  Gramineae,  are  easily 
distinguished  by  having  only  one  seed  leaf,  and  for  this  rea- 
son they  are  known  as  monocotyledons. 

The  wild  animal  grasses,  Aegilops,  found  in  such  abundance 
in  southern  Europe,  and  resembling  true  wheat  in  every  point 
except  in  size  of  grain,  are  considered  as  the  nearest  kin  to 
wheat.  Efforts  have  been  made  to  develop  wheat  from  ovata, 
the  most  typical  species.  Fabre  of  Agde,  France,  claimed  that 
in  1838  he  began  to  improve  this  plant  by  selection,  and  that 
by  1846  he  had  obtained  a  very  fair  sample  of  wheat.  His 
results  have  not  been  supported  by  other  conclusive  experi- 
ments, and  scientists  generally  have  not  accepted  them.  There 
was  doubtless  cross-fertilization. 

The  accompanying  figure  represents  different  stages  in  the 
evolution  of  wheat.1 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE    WHEAT    PLANT 

The  above  sketch  from  a  photograph  shows :  (1)  ^Egilops  ovata,  a  small  dwarfed 
specimen,  but  one  grain  of  wheat  in  each  head,  found  in  Southern  Europe; 
(2)  The  same  species  better  grown  and  developed ;  (3)  Triticum  spelta,  the 
cultivated  spelt  of  Europe ;  (4)  Triticwn  Polonicuml  Polish  wheat  or  giant 
rye ;  (5)  Head  of  Nebraska  wheat.  While  this  is  an  instructive  comparison, 
i£  is  very  questionable  whether  ITo.  5  could  be  developed  from  No.  1  in  a  rea- 
sonable number  of  years. 

1  Minn,  Bui,  62,  p.  81, 


4        ^  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT. 

The  results  of  recent  investigations  have  shown  that  improve- 
ment by  selection  is  relatively  a  slow  process 

DISTRIBUTION. 

Longitudinal. — The  migration  of  wheat  has  necessarily  been 
closely  connected  with  the  migration  of  peoples,  and  especially 
with  those  of  Europe.  Consequently  its  general  direction  of 
spreading  has  been  westward,  though  it  is  claimed  that  it 
spread  eastward  to  China  at  a  very  early  date. 

In  the  United  States,  the  meridian  bisecting  the  wheat  acre- 
age passed  through  eastern  Ohio  in  1850,  and  was  about  81 
degrees.  In  1860  it  was  85  degrees  24  minutes,  in  1870  88 
degrees,  and  in  1880  it  had  reached  middle  Illinois,  88  degrees 
45  minutes.  The  center  of  wheat  production  at  the  time  of 
the  census  in  1900  was  near  the  east  central  border  of  Iowa, 
the  meridian  of  95  degrees.  This  shows  that  the  westward 
march  of  wheat  proceeded  at  a  much  more  rapid  pace  from 
1880  to  1900  than  from  1860  to  1880.  During  the  last  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  center  of  wheat  production 
moved  west  about  680  miles  and  north  about  99  miles. 

Latitudinal. — As  European  peoples  and  their  descendants 
are  meeting  the  demands  of  increasing  population  by  con- 
tinually subjecting  to  cultivation  land  of  colder  and  of  warmer 
latitudes,  the  domain  of  wheat  is  being  extended  on  both 
sides  of  the  temperate  zones.  In  1887  Sering  published  a  map 
of  North  America  in  which  he  gave  as  the  northern  boundary 
of  wheat  growing  territory  a  line  beginning  south  of  Lake 
Ontario  running  fully  half  way  around  it,  a  little  north  of  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  other  Great  Lakes,  through  Lake  of 
the  Woods,  through  the  southeast  end  of  Winnipeg  lake, 
northwest  to  the  Athabasca  river,  following  this  to  the  Rockies, 
and  beginning  again  in  northeastern  Washington. 

In  1894  the  editor  of  the  Social  Economist  denied  that 
wheat  could  be  raised  in  Canada  or  Siberia  north  of  the  55th 
parallel.  This  widespread  notion  that  wheat  could  not  be 
raised  in  the  far  north  was  gradually  dissipated  as  wheat 
crept  closer  and  closer  to  the  Arctic  circle.  Wheat  has  fre- 
quently been  matured  at  Sitka,  Alaska,  56  degrees  north  lati- 
tude. At  the  Sitka  station,  winter  rye,  spring  wheat,  barley, 
oats  and  buckwheat  matured  both  iri  1900  and  1901.  In  the 


THE      WHEAT      GRAIN      AND      PLANT  .  5 

Peace  river  valley,  extending  700  miles  north  of  the  Canada 
border,  58  degrees  north  latitude,  enough  wheat,  barley  and 
oats  have  been  grown  to  bring  about  the  erection  of  a  100- 
barrel  roller  mill  at  Vermilion,  on  the  Peace  river.  Spring 
wheat  of  the  Romanow  variety  matured  at  the  Kenai  station 
in  Alaska  in  1899,  60  degrees  north.  Experiments  have  shown 
that  winter  wheat  will  ripen  here  in  ordinary  seasons.  On 
the  Mackenzie  river  wheat  has  been  grown  farther  north  than 
62  degrees.  Spring  wheat  and  winter  rye  have  matured  per- 
fectly 65  degrees  30  minutes  north  latitude  at  Rampart,  about 
200  miles  from  the  Arctic  circle,  and  at  Dawson,  equally  as  far 
north,  over  1000  miles  north  of  the  United  States.  While 
wheat  can  be  grown  this  far  north,  the  chances  of  failure  are, 
of  course,  much  greater  than  in  a  climate  more  temperate. 
Barley,  oats  and  rye  will  grow  farther  north  than  wheat. 

Towards  the  equator  the  limits  of  wheat  generally  vary  be- 
tween 20  and  25  degrees  north  and  south  latitude.  It  thrives 
in  southern  Brazil,  in  Cuba,  and  in  southern  Rhodesia  in  South 
Africa  at  these  latitudes. 

Altitudinal. — Another  very  important  factor  in  determining 
where  wheat  can  be  raised  is  the  altitude,  which  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  complement  of  latitude.  On  the  mountain 
plains  of  Colombia  and  Ecuador  it  grows  on  the  equator.  Thus 
wheat  is  raised  in  America  from  the  equator,  10,000  feet  above 
sea  level,  to  Dawson  and  the  Klondike  river,  2,000  feet  above 
sea  level,  and  at  least  65  degrees  30  minutes  north  latitude. 
In  the  United  States  the  census  shows  that  in  1880,  over  80 
ppr  cent  of  the  grain  was  grown  at  an  elevation  between  500 
and  1,500  feet  above  sea  level.  In  1890  the  altitudes  at  which 
wheat  was  raised  varied  from  100  feet  below  sea  level  to  over 
10,000  feet  above  sea  level,  and  about  70  per  cent  was  raised 
between  500  and  1,500  feet  elevation.  It  cannot  be  raised 
successfully  at  great  elevations  in  England.  The  plains  and 
mountain  slopes  of  Sicily  produce  wheat,  the  upper  limit  of 
its  growth  having  been  given  in  1863  as  2,500  feet  in  altitude. 

A  member  of  the  Manitoba  legislature,  Mr.  Burrows,  has 
claimed  that  fifteen  years  of  history  show  that  altitudes  have 
very  much  to  do  with  summer  frosts,  and  that  800  to  1,300 
feet  above  sea  level  is  the  best  altitude  for  No.  1  hard  wheat 
in  Manitoba.  Perhaps  the  greatest  elevation  at  which  wheat 


6  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT. 


- 


has  been  raised  is  in  Asia  on  the  Himalaya  mountains,  11,000 
feet  above  sea  level.  The  four  counties  of  Kansas  occupying 
the  center  of  its  famous  wheat  region  have  an  average  eleva- 
tion of  about  1600  feet.  The  Colorado  station  has  developed  a 
type  of  wheat  adapted  to  the  higher  altitudes  of  the  mountain 
regions,  those  of  6,000  to  9,000  feet  elevation. 

Historical  and  Geographical. — In  the  western  half  of  Asia,  in 
Europe,  and  in  northern  Africa,  wheat  has  since  time  im- 
memorial occupied  the  first  rank  of  cereals.  It  was  one  of 
the  main  crops  of  the  Israelites  in  Canaan.  None  was  grown 
in  the  New  World  before  the  sixteenth  century.  Humboldt 
says  that  a  negro  slave  of  Cortez  found  three  or  four  grains  of 
wheat  in  the  rice  which  served  to  maintain  the  Spanish  army. 
This  was  apparently  sown  before  1530,  about  the  date  when 
the  Spaniards  introduced  wheat  culture  into  Mexico.  In  1547 
wheat  bread  was  hardly  known  in  Cuzco,  Peru.  The  first 
wheat  sown  in  the  United  States  was  by  Gosnold  in  1602  on 
the  Elizabeth  Islands  off  the  southern  coast  of  Massachusetts. 
It  was  first  cultivated  in  Virginia  in  1611,  and  in  New  Nether- 
lands before  1622.  By  1648  there  were  several  hundred  acres 
in  the  Virginia  colony.  Missionaries  first  introduced  it  into 
California  in  1769.  Cuba  saw  its  cultivation  at  least  as.  early 
as  1808.  It  must  have  been  early  introduced  into  Canada,  at 
least  by  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  for  in  1827  Canada 
raised  over  twenty  million  bushels.  The  first  wheat  success- 
fully grown  and  harvested  in  the  Red  river  valley  was  in  1820. 
Victoria  wheat,  which  had  been  acclimated  by  growing  200 
years  in  the  tropics,  was  successfully  grown  in  experiments  on 
Jamaica  and  the  Bahama  Islands,  1834  to  1836.  There  was  a 
prejudice  against  it,  however,  and  Indian  corn  was  grown  in 
preference.  Minnesota's  first  settlements  date  back  to  about 
1845.  Wheat  raising  became  a  regular  branch  of  farming  in 
Argentina  in  1882.  Such  were  the  historical  beginnings  of 
the  wheat  industry  in  the  western  hemisphere.  It  has  now 
become  a  more  or  less  important  industry  over  practically  all 
of  America  lying  outside  of  frigid  zone  climates. 

IMPORTANCE. 

Quantitative. — Both  in  the  quantity  produced  and  in  its  value, 
wheat  is  the  world's  king  of  cereals.  Recent  statistics  show, 


THE      WHEAT      GRAIN      AND      PLANT  7 

however,  that  800,000,000  persons,  or  54  per  cent  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  globe,  derive  their  sustenance  mainly  from 
rice.  The  most  important  cereal  produced  in  the  United 
States,  measured  in  bushels  or  dollars,  is  corn,  and  wheat 
stands  second.  From  the  census  we  find  that  the  United 
States  produced  in  1899,  including  farm  animals  and  their 
products,  an  aggregate  value  of  nearly  five  billion  dollars.  Of 
this,  animals  brought  900  millions,  corn  828,  and  wheat  370, 
over  7.4  per  cent.  In  1906  the  corresponding  figures  for  corn 
and  wheat  were  1,100  and  450.  For  at  least  several  decades, 
corn  has  formed  over  50  per  cent  of  the  total  acreage  of 
cereals  in  the  United  States.  Wheat  formed  29.8  per  cent  in 
1880,  23.9  per  cent  in  1890,  28.4  per  cent  in  1900,  and  27  per 
cent  in  1905.  In  value,  corn  formed  55.8  per  cent  in  1900,  and 
wheat  24.9  per  cent.  Cereals  form  51  per  cent  of  the  value  of 
all  crops,  which  gives  the  value  of  wheat  as  nearly  13  per  cent 
of  that  of  all  crops.  Out  of  a  total  of  over  5.5  million  farms 
in  the  United  States,  over  two  million  raise  wheat.  The 
world's  annual  production  and  consumption  of  wheat  is  near- 
ly 3.5  billion  bushels. 

Qualitative. — Taking  the  civilized  world  as  a  whole,  wheat 
forms  the  principal  food  of  man.  It  is  much  more  widely 
distributed  than  either  its  commercial  rival,  corn,  or  its  rival 
food  cereal,  rice.  It  is  a  prime  necessity  of  civilized  life. 
The  quantity  of  wheat  milled  is  larger  than  that  of  all  other 
cereals  combined.  Sixty-two  per  cent  of  all  cereal  products 
milled  in  the  United  States  during  1900  were  from  wheat.  It  is 
essentially  a  bread  cereal.  Bananas,  rice,  potatoes,  and  other 
soil  products  will  sustain  a  greater  population  on  a  given  unit 
of  land  than  wheat  will,  but  they  are  not  so  well  adapted  to  a 
high  standard  of  living.  Herein  lies  the  present  and  increas- 
ingly great  importance  of  wheat,  for  it  seems  to  be  the  ten- 
dency of  the  civilized  world  to  raise  its  standard  of  living.  As 
the  standard  of  living  rises,  wheat  becomes  a  relatively  more 
important  part  of  human  food.  Rye  and  oats  furnished  the 
bread  of  the  great  body  of  people  in  Europe  during  the  middle 
ages.  Wheat  was  high-priced  and  not  extensively  grown. 
England  early  became  a  wheat  eating  nation.  France  and 


8  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT. 

the  other  Latin  countries  followed  later.  Rye  is  still  exten- 
sively used  in  Germany,  but  is  gradually  being  superseded  by 
wheat.  Even  Russia  is  using  more  wheat  flour  than  she  did 
twenty  years  ago. 

The  great  intrinsic  food  value  of  wheat;  its  ease  of  cultiva- 
tion and  preparation  for  use;  its  wide  adaptation  to  different 
climates  and  soils;  its  quick  and  bountiful  return;  and  the 
fact  of  its  being  paniferous  and  yielding  such  a  vast  number 
and  variety  of  products  are  all  factors  that  enhance  the  value 
of  the  wheat  grain.  Its  combined  qualitative  and  quantitative 
importance  gives  to  wheat  a  great  superiority  over  any  other 
cereal,  and  causes  it  to  be  dealt  in  more  extensively  upon  the 
speculative  markets  than  any  other  agricultural  product.  As 
an  essential  part  of  the  food  of  civilized  man  it  becomes  of  an 
importance  so  vital  as  to  be  dominating. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

The  Classification  of  wheat  seems  always  to  have  been  in  a 
more  or  less  chaotic  state.  This  is  especially  true  of  the 
nomenclature  of  varieties.  Nor  is  the  fault  to  be  laid  particu- 
larly at  the  door  of  science.  We  have  seen  that  wheat  has 
been  continually  migrating  for  many  centuries.  It  is  a  plant 
that  is  easily  influenced  by  environment  and  therefore  particu- 
larly unstable  in  type.  Since  it  has  always  been  migrating  to 
new  environments,  a  complete  change  in  type  often  resulted, 
though  it  was  still  known  by  the  old  name.  This  is  further 
complicated  by  the  fact  that  the  modern  art  of  breeding  wheat 
has  originated  many  new  varieties.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that 
wheat  has  been  shipped  all  over  the  world,  not  only  for 
commercial  purposes,  but  also  for  seed  experiments,  and  it  is 
not  surprising  that  the  nomenclature  of  varieties  is  somewhat 
tangled,  that  several  varieties  are  known  by  the  same  name, 
or  that  one  variety  may  have  several  names,  and  may  pass  for 
several  varieties.  It  is  among  the  most  common  wheats  that 
the  difficulty  has  been  most  perplexing. 

Classes  and  Distribution. — There  are  several  kinds  of  the 
less  common  wheats,  such  as  Polish  wheat,  spelt  and  durum 
wheat,  which  have  very  marked  characteristics,  and  which 
have  perhaps  not  migrated  so  widely.  In  spite  of  some  con- 
fusion in  names,  it  is  generally  possible  to  determine  to  whiclj 


THE      WHEAT      GRAIN      AND      PLANT 


9 


class  they  belong.  Some  of  the  most  common  and  widely  used 
classifications  are  those  based  on  time  of  sowing,  as  spring  and 
winter  wheat;  on  firmness  of  structure  of  the  grain,  as  hard 
and  soft;  on  the  products  for  which  they  are  used,  as  bread 
and  macaroni  wheats;  and  on  the  color  of  the  seed,  as  red 
and  white.  As  will  later  be  shown,  wheat  adapts  itself  to  new 
environments  so  that  any  one  of  these  classes  may  be  trans- 
formed into  any  other,  and  as  wheat  is  raised  so  widely  as  to 
embrace  practically  every  kind  of  environment,  these  classes 
grade  into  each  other  so  imperceptibly  that  even  an  expert  can 
hardly  determine  to  which  class  a  certain  wheat  may  belong. 
An  approximate  division  has,  however,  been  made.  Mr.  M.  A. 


DISTRICTS 
SOPT 

SEMI-HARD 
SOUTHERN 
HARD-SPRING 
HARD-WINTER 
DURUM 
IRRIGATED 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    WHEAT    VARIETIES    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Carleton,1  cerealist  of  the  United  States  department  of  agri- 
culture, has  divided  the  wheat  grown  in  the  United  States  into 
eight  classes,  and  has  shown  the  distribution  of  these  classes 
by  districts  in  the  accompanying  map. 

On  the  north  Atlantic  coast  is  the  soft  wheat  district,  south 
of  the  Great  Lakes  the  semi-hard  district,  and  south  of  these 
two  districts  is  the  southern  district.     The  Red  river  valley  is 
1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Veg.  Phys.  &  Path.,  Bui.   24. 


10  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT. 

the  center  of  hard  spring  wheat,  Kansas  of  hard  winter  wheat 
and  north  central  Texas  of  durum  wheats.  White  wheat  is 
raised  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  center  of  red  wheat,  not 
shown  in  this  division,  is  from  Kansas  to  the  Eed  river  valley. 
A  still  more  general  classification  by  the  same  author  divides 
the  "United  States  crosswise  into  three  divisions  of  approxi- 
mately equal  width,  assigning  the  hard  wheats  to  the  northern 
states,  the  soft  wheats  to  the  states  of  the  middle  latitudes, 
and  the  durums  to  the  southern  states.  About  two-thirds  of  the 
wheat  raised  in  the  United  States  is  winter  wheat.  Nearly  90 
per  cent  of  the  wheat  grown  in  Russia  is  spring  wheat.  In 
Canada,  Manitoba  raises  spring  wheat  exclusively,  but  On- 
tario and  Alberta  raise  some  of  the  winter  variety.  In  Ger- 
many, over  90  per  cent  of  the  wheat  grown  is  of  the  winter 
variety,  which  is  largely  grown  over  southern  Europe  and  on 
the  British  Isles.  Spring  wheat  was  once  more  generally  called 
summer  wheat,  and  winter  wheat  is  often  also  called  fall 
wheat. 

Carleton,  on  a  geographical  basis,  located  groups  of  varieties 
having  special  qualities   approximately  as  follows: 

1.  Starchy  white  wheats:     Pacific  coast  and  Rocky  Moun- 
tain states,  Chile,  Turkestan,  Australia  and  India 

2.  Amber  or  reddish  grained  wheats,  also  starchy:    Eastern 
states,  western  and  northern  Europe,  India,  Japan  and  Aus- 
tralia. 

3.  Wheats   with   excellence   of   gluten   content   for  making 
bread:     Northern    and   central   states   of   the   plains,   Canada, 
eastern  and  southern  Russia,  Hungary,  Roumania  and,,  southern 
Argentina. 

4.  Wheats  resistant  to  orange  leaf  rust:     Southern  Russia, 
Mediterranean  and  Black  Sea  regions,  and  Australia. 

5.  Wheats  with   excellence   of   gluten   content   for  making 
macaroni:     Southern  Russia,  Algeria,  and  the  Mediterranean 
region  in  general. 

6.  Wheats  with  stiff  straw,  which  prevents  lodging:     Pacific 
coast  states,  Japan,  Turkestan,  Mediterranean  region  and  Aus- 
tralia. 

7.  Wheats  with  great  yielding  power   (at  least  in  propor- 
tion to   size  of  head) :     Pacific  coast  states,   Chile   and   Tur- 
kestan. 


THE     WHEAT     GRAIN      AND     PLANT  11 

8.  Non-shattering  wheats:    Pacific  coast  states,  Chile,  Tur- 
kestan, Germany  (spelts),  and  East  Russia  (emmers). 

9.  Wheats     of     great     constancy     in     fertility:     Germany 
(spelts)   and  southern  Europe. 

10.  Wheats  of  early  maturity :    Japan,  Australia  and  India. 

11.  Wheats  most  resistant  to  drought  and  heat:    East  and 
South  Russia,  Kirghiz  Steppes,  Turkestan  and  southern  Medi- 
terraneai*  region. 

12.  Wheats    most    resistant    to    drought    and    cold:    East 
Russia. 

Species. — There  are  eight  principal  types  of  cultivated 
wheat:  Einkorn  (Triticum  monococcum) ;  Polish  wheat  (Tr. 
polonicum) ;  Emmer  (Tr.  sativum  dicoccum) ;  Spelt  (Tr.  sat. 
spelta) ;  Club  or  Square-head  wheat  (Tr.  sat.  compactum) ;  Pou- 
lard wheat  (Tr.  sat.  turgidum) ;  Durum  wheat  (Tr.  sat.  durum) ; 
and  Common  wheat  (Tr.  sat.  vulgare). 

Varieties. — In  1900,  after  five  years  of  experimentation  with 
about  1,000  varieties  of  wheat  collected  from  the  different 
wheat  countries  of  the  world,  the  United  States  department  of 
agriculture  decided  that,  tested  by  American  conditions,  there 
were  245  leading  varieties.  No  one  variety  is  best  under  all 
conditions,  but  climate,  soil,  and  the  purpose  for  which  wheat 
is  raised  must  in  each  case  determine  which  variety  is  most 
profitable.  If  a  variety  can  be  secured  that  will  yield  more 
under  the  same  conditions  than  other  varieties  do,  then  profits 
can  be  easily  increased,  for  its  production  involves  no  additional 
expense,  except  possibly  an  extra  outlay  for  seed.  Prof.  W.  M. 
Hays  estimates  that  Minnesota  No.  169,  a  variety  of  wheat  in- 
troduced by  the  Minnesota  experiment  station,  has  increased 
the  yield  of  that  state  from  5  to  10  per  cent. 

The  most  widely  and  universally  grown  varieties  of  wheat  in 
the  United  States  are  Fultz  for  soft  winter,  Turkey  Red  for 
hard  winter,  Fife  and  Blue  Stem  for  hard  spring,  and  Kubanka 
for  durum  wheat. 

DESCRIPTION   AND   GROWTH. 

Roots. — The  first  root  appearing  is  called  the  radicle.  This 
and  the  two  other  roots  that  soon  appear  form  the  whorl  of 
three  seminal  or  temporary  roots.  The  crown  of  roots  usually 


ROOT  SYSTEM  OF  A  WHEAT  PLANT  AT  HEADING-OUT  TIME 


12 


THE  WHEAT  GRAIN  AND  PLANT  13 

grows  about  an  inch  beneath  the  soil,  irrespective  of  the  depth 
to  which  the  grain  was  planted.  From  the  crown  are  thrown 
out  whorls  of  coronal  or  permanent  roots.  Any  node  of  the 
wheat  stalk  under  or  near  the  soil  may  also  throw  out  a 
whorl  of  permanent  roots,  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  corn. 
There  are  four  or  five  whorls  with  three  to  five  roots  each. 
The  roots  from  the  base  of  the  crown  strike  directly  down- 
ward, while  those  from  the  later  whorls  run  at  an  angle  for  a 
few  inches  before  taking  a  vertical  direction.  Most  of  the 
main  roots  penetrate  to  a  depth  of  over  4  feet,  perhaps  5  or  6 
feet,  provided  the  water-line  is  not  closer  to  the  surface  than 
that  distance,  for  below  this  the  roots  will  not  enter  to  any  ap- 
preciable extent.  The  roots  of  wheat  have  been  traced  to  a 
depth  of  7  feet,  and  it  has  been  found  that  if  those  of  one 
plant  were  placed  end  to  end  they  would  reach  1,704  feet. 
The  deep  roots  are  all  fine  threads  of  practically  uniform  diam- 
eter throughout  their  entire  length.  They  branch  and  re- 
branch freely  to  a  depth  of  18  or  20  inches,  about  eight  branch 
roots  occurring  to  an  inch  length  of  a  main  root.  At  a  greater 
depth,  branches  are  few  or  absent,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the 
deep  roots  are  for  securing  moisture.  The  roots  do  not  branch 
or  feed  much  in  the  region  just  below  that  stirred  by  the 
plow,  if  that  region  is  hard  and  gummy,  as  is  often  the  case. 
The  upper  whorls  give  forth  roots  that  are  larger  and  coarser, 
and  which  resemble  the  brace  roots  in  corn.  It  is  said  that 
the  roots  extend  chiefly  at  their  extremities,  while  the  stem 
elongates  equally,  or  nearly  so,  in  all  of  its  contiguous  parts. 
The  root  development  seems  to  be  greatest  in  durum  wheats. 
Early  spring  and  summer  rains  cause  shallow  rooting.  In  the 
absence  of  these  rains  in  the  far  west,  a  deeper  root  system, 
capable  of  resisting  superficial  droughts,  is  developed.  Poor 
soil  causes  the  roots  to  age  rapidly. 

Culms. — The  culms  of  wheat  are  usually  hollow,  but  in  some 
varieties  they  are  quite  filled  with  pith.  The  length  varies 
greatly  in  different  varieties,  soils  and  seasons,  a  fact  which 
results  in  greater  variation  in  size  and  yield  of  straw  than  of 
grain.  Common  wheat  averages  from  three  to  five  feet  in 
height.  The  liability  of  lodging  depends  greatly  on  the  culm, 
the  length  of  which  is  also  important  in  harvesting. 
1  Hunt.  Cereals  in  Amer.  (1904),  p.  27. 


14  THE    BOOK   OP   WHEAT 

Leaves. — When  the  internodes  lengthen  and  the  spike  pushes 
upward,  the  wheat  is  said  to  shoot.  Previous  to  this,  the 
nodes  are  so  close  together  that  the  plant  seems  to  consist  al- 
most entirely  of  leaves.  There  are  four  principal  parts  to  the 
leaf :  The  blade ;  the  sheath,  which  clasps  the  stem  and  is  split 
down  the  side  opposite  the  blade;  the  ligule,  also  clasping  the 
culm,  and  located  where  the  blade  and  sheath  join;  and  the 
leaf  auricle,  thin  projections  growing  from  the  base  of  the 
blade.  The  first  leaves  of  the  wheat  plant  and  the  germ  whorl  of 
roots  do  not  live  through  the  winter  in  some  varieties. 

The  Flower  of  Wheat  is  constituted  collectively  of  the  or- 
gans of  reproduction,  together  with  the  two  inclosing  chaffy 
parts.  The  inner  of  these  two  parts  is 
known  as  a  palea,  while  the  outer  and 
lower  one  is  the  flowering  glume.  The 
latter  often  bears  a  long  appendage, 
characteristic  of  bearded  wheat.  These 
awns  or  beards  vary  greatly  in  length 
even  in  the  same  spike,  and  in  some 
~i  varieties  are  deciduous  upon  ripening. 
Their  color  varies  from  light  yellow 
to  black. 

wheragta™ lar^^anHiS     The  Spikelets.-Each  consists  of  from 
^theiUamebiftime0orflSw:two  to  five  flowers  encased  within  two 

ering;C,  flower  before  open- hard  oval  chaffy  coverings  called  outer 

mg,  a,  anthers,  /,  filament,     .  T       J 

Z,  fodicule;  D,  flower  about  glumes.        In      common      wheat      each 

to°Pen-  spikelet    generally    matures    two,    and 

sometimes  three,  grains.  The  glumes  vary  greatly  in  form, 
color  and  size.  The  stem  or  rachis  of  the  spike  is  of  a 
zigzag  form.  On  each  of  its  joints  or  shoulders  sits  a  single 
spikelet,  attached  by  an  exceedingly  short  rachilla.  Arranged 
alternately  on  the  stem,  with  flat  sides  toward  the  center,  the 
spikelets  usually  give  the  head  of  wheat  a  square  appearance 
when  viewed  endwise.  Viewed  from  the  side,  the  spike  may 
be  straight  or  curved;  it  may  have  uniform  sides,  or  taper 
toward  both  ends,  or  only  toward  base  or  apex;  or  it  may  be 
clubbed  at  either  end.  The  filling  of  the  spikelets  has  much  to 
do  with  the  appearance  of  the  spike,  which  varies  much  in 
different  varieties.  There  is  also  great  variation  in  compact- 
Fifteen  to  twenty  fertile  spikelets,  containing  from  30 


THE  WHEAT  GRAIN  AND  PLANT 


15 


to  50  grains,  are  usually  formed  on  a  spike  of  wheat,  the  aver- 
age length  of  which  is  between  3  and  4  inches.  Huinboldt  said 
that  in  Mexico  each  spike  of  wheat  averaged  90  grains,  though 
some  had  as  many  as  160.  Mummy  wheat  has  been  observed 
with  ears  containing  nearly  a  dozen  branches.  There  are  150 
grains  in  one  ear,  and  as  many  as  60  ears  from  one  seed. 
Wheat  has  the  advantage  of  extreme  diminution  of  the  number 
of  seeds  to  each  flower,  giving  richness  in  starch  and  gluten, 
combined  with  the  advantage  of  numerous  flowers  on  each 
plant,  giving  many  seeds. 

The  Wheat  Kernel  is  a  dry,  indehiscent,  unilocular  caryopsis. 
It  is  oval  in  shape,  and  has  the  appearance  of  being  folded  up- 
on itself  from  two  sides.  A  ventral  crease  marks  the  coming 
together  of  the  two  folds.  At  the  base 
of  the  berry  opposite  the  crease  is 
found  the  embryo,  germ,  or  chit.  At  the 
apex  is  a  collection  of  minute  hairs.  The 
entire  grain  fills  from  20  to  30  cubic 
millimeters  of  space,  of  which  at  least 
thirteen-fourteenths  are  occupied  with 
the  starchy  endosperm.  The  latter  al- 
most surrounds  the  embryo,  and  its  cells 
are  very  irregularly  shaped.  The  em- 
bryo is  composed  of  the  absorbent  organ 
(scutellum),  and  the  miniature  first 
leaves  and  roots.  It  forms  about  6  per 
cent  of  the  wheat  kernel. 

The  endosperm  and  embryo  are  flom- 
rletely  enclosed  by  a  single  layer  of  |[uten  cells  j 
aleurone  or  gluten  cells.  The  weight  of  bran ;  /  and  a,  outer  coats  of 
this  layer  is  8  per  cent  of  that  of  the  "ran ;  ft,  epidermis  of  kernel, 
whole  grain.  The  next  covering  is  a  single  layer  of  collapsed 
cells,  known  as  the  tegmen.  This  is  again  surrounded  by  a 
third  envelope,  the  testa,  or  episperm,  which  contains  the 
greater  part  of  the  coloring  matter  of  the  grain.  This  coloring 
matter  is  of  two  kinds,  one  a  palish  yellow,  and  the  other  an 
orange  yellow,  and  the  degree  in  which  one  or  the  other  pre- 
dominates determines  whether  the  wheat  is  known  as  white, 
yellow  or  red.  The  three  layers  just  described  constitute  the 
envelope  of  the  seed  proper.  They  in  turn  are  again  inclosed 


16 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


6y  the  pericarp,  which  is  also  composed  'of  three  layers,  all 
colorless.  The  exterior  of  these  three  membranes,  the  cuticle,  is 
easily  removed  by  rubbing.  Then  come  two  layers  of  cellular 
tissue,  the  epicarp  (from  which  spring  the  hairs  above  men- 
tioned) and  the  endocarp.  The  tegmen  and  testa  form  about  2 
per  cent  of  the  weight  of  the  grain,  and  the  pericarp  forms 
fully  3  per  cent.  Thus  the  bran  forms  at  least  13  per  cent  of 
the  grain. 

Germination. — The  three  conditions  essential  to  the  germin- 
ation of  wheat  are  moisture,  warmth  and  oxygen.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  any  one 
of  these  the 
process  will  not 
begin,  or  if  it  has 
begun  it  will 
cease.  Johnson  de- 
fines the  period 
of  germination  as 
lasting  from  the 
time  when  the 

rootlet  becomes 
Cross  section  of  grain  of  wheat  on  the  left.    (From  _  •  -i  i         ,    .-i      .1  n 
micro-photograph  by  Tolman.)     Transverse   section,   visioi 
on  the  right,  of  an  unripe  grain  enlarged  about  UK)  cforps;       n  f        t  h  P 
times  from  drawing  by  Bessey.    1.  ovary  wall  or  peri-  fe 

carp;  2,  outer  integument;  3,  inner  integument;  4,  mother  seed  are 
remains  of  nucellus ;  5,  aleurone  cells ;  6,  starch  cells.  .  ,  _ 

exhausted  and  the 

young  plant  is  wholly  cast  upon  its  own  resources.  At  41°  F., 
the  time  required  for  the  rootlet  to  appear  in  wheat  is  about  six 
days,  which  time  corresponds  to  the  more  general  idea  of  the 
period  of  germination.  At  51°  this  time  is  shortened  about 
one-half.  The  time  required  for  the  completion  of  germination 
is  40  to  45  days  at  41  to  55°  and  10  to  12  days  at  95  to  100°. 
The  lowest  temperature  at  which  wheat  will  germinate  is  41°, 
the  highest  104°,  and  that  of  most  rapid  germination,  84°. 
This  is  according  to  Johnson.  Other  authorities  claim 
that  wheat  will  germinate  and  grow  on  melting  ice. 
It  has  also  been  said  that  it  does  not  germinate  suc- 
cessfully at  a  high  temperature,  and  consequently  should  not 
be  sown  until  cool  weather  in  southern  climates.  Dissolved 
salts  seem  to  aid  germination  under  ordinary  field  conditions. 
In  germinating,  wheat  absorbs  from  five  to  six  times  its 


THE  WHEAT  GRAIN   AND   PLANT 


17 


weight  of  water.  It  loses  1.5  per  cent  of  its  own  weight  in  24 
hours,  6.7  per  cent  in  90  hours,  and  11.8  per  cent  in  144  hours. 
Besides  the  loss  in  weight,  marked  chemical  changes  take  place 
which  greatly  decrease  its  value  for  bread  baking  purposes, 
and  probably  also  as  a  food  for  stock.  Great  loss  may  thus  be 
occasioned  by  the  sprouting  of  wheat  in  field,  shock,  stack  or 
bin.  Experiments  indicate  that  sprouted  wheat  will  regermi- 
nate  and  form  healthy  sprouts  until  the  stem  (plumule)  has 
reached  a  length  of  %-inch  in  the  first  germination,  and  an 
average  of  80  per  cent  of  all  sprouted  wheat  with  the  length 
of  the  stem  not  exceeding  %-inch  will  again  germinate.1 

Stooling  or  Tillering. — Wheat,  like  other  cereals,  has  the 
characteristic  of  throwing  out  side  shoots  after  the  plumule 
has  appeared  above  the  surface.  These  branches  or  culms  may 
form  at  any  node  covered  with  soil.  The  num- 
ber of  such  stalks  from  one  seed  varies  much 
with  conditions.  There  are  usually  at  least  six, 
but  there  may  be  from  two  to  several  dozen 
in  extreme  cases,  52  spikes  having  been  ob- 
served. As  a  rule,  the  more  favorable  the  con- 
ditions for  plant  growth,  and  the  thinner  the 
wheat  is  on  the  ground,  the  more  it  tillers. 
Cool  weather  during  early  development  may  re- 
sult in  a  long  period  of  subsequent  growth 
which  encourages  tillering.  Time  of  seeding 
also  has  great  influence,  for  late  sown  wheat 
may  not  have  time  to  stool.  The  habit  varies 
quite  materially  in  different  varieties.  While 
thinner  sown  wheat  may  tiller  more,  a  greater 
amount  of  seed  per  acre .  often  increases  the 
yield,  even  though  there  are  fewer  stools. 
Pliny  is  said  to  have  declared  that  it  was  not 
uncommon  in  northern  Africa  and  in  Italy  to  find  from  200  to 
400  stalks  of  wheat  growing  from  a  single  kernel.  Humboldt 
put  on  record  that  in  Mexico  each  grain  of  wheat  produced  40 
to  70  stalks.  It  is  probable  that  each  of  these  men  was  seeing 
with  the  eyes  of  an  enthusiast. 

The  Growth  of  a  Wheat  Plant  is  the  aggregate  result  of  the 
enlargement  and  multiplication  of  the  cells  which  comprise  it. 
1  Kept.  N.  D.  Sta,,  1901,  p.  107. 


18  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT* 

Generally  cells  reach  their  full  size  in  a  brief  time,  and  con- 
tinuous growth  depends  mainly  upon  the  constant  and  rapid 
formation  of  new  cells.  The  essentials  to  growth  are  light, 
air,  moisture,  heat  and  food.  In  the  absence  of  any  one  of 
these,  the  plant  dies,  and  in  their  disproportionate  combina- 
tion, growth  is  sickly.  In  germination,  food  is  furnished  by 
the  seed,  and  light  is  not  essential.  Over  light  man  has  no 
control.  He  can  increase  the  amount  of  air  that  has  access  to 
the  plant  by  loosening  the  soil  around  its  roots.  An  adaptive 
control  of  heat  is  exercised  by  sowing  during  the  warm  season. 
By  selecting  soils,  fertilizing  and  changing  existing  foods  from 
unavailable  to  available  forms,  food  can  in  a  great  measure  be 
regulated,  and  water,  acting  as  a  solvent  and  vehicle,  can  be 
very  largely  regulated  as  to  amount  by  drainage  and  irrigation. 
That  the  growth  and  multiplication  of  cells  involves  a  migra- 
tion of  material  within  the  plant  has  long  been  recognized.  In 
wheat,  as  in  many  other  plants,  there  is  a  comparatively  large 
development  of  roots  soon  after  the  first  leaves  appear.  Only 
some  low-lying  leaves  are  put  forth  while  the  great  complex  of 
roots  is  being  formed.  In  a  wheat  plant  only  23  days  old,  the 
roots  had  penetrated  the  soil  over  1  foot  in  depth.  When  the 
system  of  roots  has  been  formed,  the  stalk  suddenly  shoots  up 
almost  to  mature  stature.  Perhaps  the  roots  are  completely 
developed  by  the  time  that  the  formation  of  grain  has  begun. 
The  leaves  of  the  wheat  plant,  with  their  chlorophyl  cells, 
have  been  considered  as  little  laboratories  elaborating  vege- 
table matter.  Under  the  influence  of  light  they  are  able  to 
extract  carbonic  acid  from  the  atmosphere.  This  acid  is  one 
of  the  raw  materials  of  these  little  factories.  They  decompose 
it,  eliminate  the  oxygen,  and  from  the  residue  they  manufacture 
sugar,  cellulose,  straw-gum,  vasculose,  and  all  the  ternary  mat- 
ters composed  of  carbon,  oxygen  and  hydrogen.  A  perfect  sys- 
tem of  canals  penetrates  every  part  of  the  plant.  These 
canals  are  filled  with  water,  which  enters  at  the  roots,  for 
leaves  do  not  absorb  water  to  any  appreciable  extent,  and  is 
in  constant  motion  until  it  is  exhaled  from  the  leaves.  During 
one  hour  of  insolation  a  leaf  of  wheat  exhales  an  amount  of 
water  equal  to  its  own  weight.  Upon  these  highways  of 
moving  water  are  borne  raw  materials  destined  for  the  little 
cell  factories,  such  as  nitrates,  phosphoric  acid,  potash  and 


THE  WHEAT  GRAIN  AND  PLANT  19 

silica.  They,  too,  are  reduced.  If  there  is  an  abundance  of 
rain,  the  cells  continue  work  long,  elaborate  much  vegetable 
matter,  and  the  plant  grows. 

If  the  water  supply  is  insufficient  and  the  soil  parsimonious, 
this  prodigious  consumption  cannot  be  supplied,  and  dessication 
of  organs  takes  place.  This  begins  in  the  oldest  leaves,  and 
nearly  always  the  little  leaves  at  the  base  of  the  stem  become 
soft,  flabby,  and  withered.  Analyses  have  been  made  which 
show  that  these  leaves  let  escape  some  nitrogenized  matter, 
phosphoric  acid  and  potash,  which  they  contained  when  living, 
green  and  turgescent.  Thus  the  closing  of  one  of  these  groups 
of  little  cell  factories  by  the  dessication  of  a  leaf  is  a  very 
important  process  to  the  plant,  for  less  vegetable  matter  is 
elaborated  than  if  it  had  continued  its  work.  In  dry  years  a 
shortening  of  the  stems  and  a  comparatively  small  amount 
of  straw  results. 

The  dying  of  leaves  involves  not  only  the  closing  of  these 
workshops,  but  the  transportation  of  much  of  the  finished 
product  stored  in  them.  Metamorphosis  of  the  nitrogenized 
matter  which  forms  the  protoplasm,  the  living  part  of  the 
cell,  takes  place,  and  it  assumes  an  itinerant  property  which 
enables  it  to  pass  through  membranous  walls  and  migrate 
over  the  liquid  highways  to  new  leaves.  With  it  are  carried 
phosphoric  acid  and  potash.  Some  of  the  elaborated  material 
is  thus  continually  being  transported  from  lower  to  upper 
leaves  during  the  entire  period  of  vegetation.  Flowering  takes 
place  when  enough  material  has  been  elaborated  to  nourish  the 
appearing  seeds.  This  migration  of  substance  can  take  place 
only  when  there  is  plenty  of  water,  and  the  crop  fails  when  it 
is  too  dry.  Too  much  water  is  also  injurious,  for  it  causes  a 
tendency  to  keep  up  growth  indefinitely.  The  Minnesota  sta- 
tion found  that  the  wheat  plant  produced  nearly  one-half  its 
dry  and  three-fourths  its  mineral  matter  by  the  end  of  50 
days.  This  included  75  per  cent  of  the  potash,  80  per  cent 
of  the  phosphoric  acid,  and  86  per  cent  of  the  nitrogen.  At 
65  days,  65  per  cent  of  dry  and  85  per  cent  of  mineral  mat- 
ter had  been  produced,  as  well  as  most  of  the  fiber,  which  suf- 
fered a  loss  after  81  days.1  Compared  with  the  processes  ob- 
served in  nitrogenized  matter,  phosphorus  and  potash,  the 
1  Minn.  Bui.  29.  pp.  152-160. 


20  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

formation  of  starch  is  yet  quite  a  mystery.  Its  accumulation 
in  the  leaves  cannot  be  detected  in  wheat  as  it  can  be  in  a 
large  number  of  other  species.  Neither  are  reserves  of  sac- 
charine matters  to  be  found  there.  It  is  not  until  the  last 
stage  of  vegetation  that  starch  is  formed.  Consequently  cli- 
matic influences  at  the  close  of  the  growing  period  have  a 
marked  effect  on  the  amount  of  starch  produced,  and  cause  it 
to  vary  greatly  from  year  to  year. 

The  process  of  transporting  elaborated  material  begins  in 
the  planted  seed,  and  does  not  cease  until  the  wheat  is  dead 
ripe.  This  is  the  explanation  of  wheat  ripening  after  it  is 
cut.  It  also  explains  the  fact  that  wheat  straw,  as  well  as 
many  other  straws,  is  not  as  well  liked  by  animals,  and  is  not 
as  nutritious,  after  it  is  ripe  as  when  green,  or  when  cut  before 
ripe. 

Fertilization. — The  one-seeded  ovulary  is  a  little  greenish 
swelling.  It  is  surmounted  by  the  stigmas,  two  erect  and  ad- 
jacent aigrettes  of  plumes.  There  are  three  stamens,  and  the 
anthers  are  compactly  arranged  about  the  ovulary.  At  flower- 
ing the  filaments  to  which  the  anthers  are  attached  elongate 
rapidly.  As  the  anthers  are  pushed  upward,  they  suddenly 
overturn,  and  the  pollen  falls  upon  the  stigmas,  which  have 


4-40A.M         A-43A.M.       4-45  A.M.          4-17  A.M.         4-55AK         S-^OaAJ*         5-15 A.M          5-13  A.M 

THE  OPENING  OF  THE  FLOWERS  OF  WHEAT.       (AFTER  HAYS) 

now  grow  slightly  divergent.  These  delicate  operations  all 
take  place  within  the  closed  flower  and  generally  wheat  is  thus 
essentially  self-fertilized.  The  anthers  are  now  pushed  out- 
side of  the  glumes,  and  the  wheat  is  popularly  said  to  be  in 
flower.  As  soon  as  the  pollen  comes  in  contact  with  the 
stigmas,  it  germinates  by  sending  out  a  long  tube  (called  the 
pollinic  branch)  into  the  ovulary.  This  completes  fertilization 
and  the  grain  is  formed.  If  fertilization  in  incomplete,  the 
ovularies  remain  unfertilized,  and  the  spikes  bear  sterile  flowers 
in  which  no  kernels  are  formed.  It  seems  that  the  crop  is  thus 


THE    WHEAT  GRAIN   AND  PLANT  21 

injured  when  fertilization  takes  .place  in  rainy  weather.  The 
water  probably  finds  its  way  wi%in  the  involucre,  and  the 
pollen  grains  are  either  imperfectly  retained,  or  their  germi- 
nation is  irregular.  The  process  of  fertilization  generally  oc- 
curs early  in  the  morning,  and  may  require  less  than  an  hour 
of  time.  After  its  completion  the  ovule  (seed)  grows  very 
rapidly  to  maturity.  The  embryo  develops  first,  and  then  the 
endosperm. 

The  Most  Favorable  Ripening  of  wheat  requires  a  mild  tem- 
perature and  a  slightly  clouded  sky.  A  high  telS^e^iiture  the 
month  before  wheat  is  ripe  diminishes  the  yield,  and  in  partic- 
ular prevents  the  formation  of  starch.  There  is  a  real,  though 
small,  loss  in  wheat  from  the  period  when  it  is  "ripe"  to  the 
time  when  it  is  dead  ripe,  and  it  is  claimed  that  this  loss  does 
not  result  from  careless  handling,  or  from  drying  of  the  grain.1 
Deherain  offers  the  explanation  that  "all  the  organs  of  a 
plant  respire  by  the  aid  of  the  oxygen  of  the  air  consuming 
some  of  their  principles.  In  the  seed  the  combustion  chiefly 
affects  the  starch,  and  a  crop  which  remains  standing  long 
diminishes  in  weight  both  by  the  loss  of  seeds  that  fall  and  by 
the  slow  combustion  which  continues  as  long  as  desiccation  is 
not  produced."  What  is  lost  in  quantity,  however,  is  perhaps 
more  than  gained  in  quality,  for  the  best  flour  can  be  obtained 
from  dead  ripe  wheat  only.  Such  flour  has  a  better  color,  and 
will  take  more  water  in  bread-making.  If  the  grain  is  cut  be- 
fore ripe,  the  most  serious  feature  is  increased  acidity  in  the 
flour.  This  interferes  with  fermentation  in  bread-making,  and 
is  liable  to  make  the  bread  sour  or  dark. 

The  Rate  of  Multiplication  of  Wheat.— Paley  gave  300  grains 
harvested  from  one  grain  sown  as  a  moderate  estimate;  400  as 
a  possible  one;  and  10  to  12  as  a  practical  one.  Herodotus 
said  that  on  the  irrigated  land  of  Assyria,  wheat  yielded  from 
two  to  three  hundred  fold,  and  grew  to  giant  size.  Fifty 
grains  of  wheat,  selected  from  one  spike,  were  planted,  and 
the  30  grains  which  grew  produced  14%  ounces  of  wheat. 
This  was  sown  the  next  year,  and  produced  5  pecks  of  grain, 
which  in  turn  produced  45  bushels  the  subsequent  year.  The 
45  bushels  produced  537  bushels  in  another  year,  enough  seed 

1  Kedzie,  Kept.  Mich.  Board  Agr.,  1881-2,  p.  337;  Mich.  Bui.  191, 
p.  160;  Neb.  Bui.  32,  p.  97. 


22  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

from  one  spike  in  four  years  to  sow  about  500  acres.1  In  ter 
years,  one  grain  of  North  Dakota  wheat,  now  known  as  Minne- 
sota 163,  without  any  attempt  to  increase  it  rapidly  the  first 
few  years,  actually  produced  about  300,000  bushels  of  wheat 
One  thousand  acres  of  land  south  of  Walla  Walla  in  easterr 
Washington  yielded  51,000  bushels  in  1881.  "This  yield  was 
made  the  subject  of  a  careful  measurement  and  reported  to  the 
Agricultural  Department,  where  it  stands  today  as  the  largest 
yield  for  a  thousand-acre  field  ever  reported.  "z  The  greatest 
wheat  crop  ever  recorded  in  the  world's  history  as  being  pro- 
duced from  unfertilized  land  was  that  of  western  Canada  in 
1901,  where  63,425,000  bushels  were  harvested  from  a  little 
over  2,500,000  acres;  an  average  yield  of  over  25  bushels  per 
acre. 

Physical  Properties. — The  number  of  grains  in  a  pound  of 
wheat  varies  from  7,500  to  24,000;  from  377  determinations 
the  average  was  12,000  grains.  The  number  in  a  bushel  has 
been  given  as  varying  from  446,580  to  971,940.  The  Winches- 
ter bushel  (2150.42  cubic  inches)  used  in  the  United  States,  has 
a  standard  and  legal  weight  of  60  pounds.  The  measured 
bushel  generally  varies  in  weight  from  54  to  65  pounds,  and 
greater  extremes  occur.  The  Imperial  bushel  (2218.192  cubic 
inches)  used  in  England,  has  a  corresponding  weight  of  61.89 
pounds.  This  is  the  reason  why  English  wheat  appears  heavier 
than  American  grain. 

The  specific  gravity  of  American  wheat  has  been  found  to 
vary  from  1.146  to  1.518.  Lyon  found  high  specific  gravity 
associated  with  low  nitrogen  content.  As  a  rule,  the  harder 
the  grain,  the  higher  is  the  gluten  and  nitrogen  content,  and 
the  deeper  red  the  color. 

Viability  of  Wheat. — Experiments  have  shown  the  optimum 
period  for  germination  to  be  the  second  year  after  harvest. 
Seed  one  year  old  often  gives  better  results  than  fresh  seed, 
but  after  the  first  year  the  viability  generally  diminishes  rapidly 
from  year  to  year.  Ordinarily  it  is  not  advisable  to  sow  wheat 
over  two,  or  at  the  most  three,  years  of  age,  at  least  not  with- 
out testing  its  germinating  powers,  which  have  been  found  to 
vary  from  15  to  75  per  cent  after  five  years.  The  longest 

1  Neb.   Bui.   32,   p.   84. 

2  Kept.    Bureau    of    Statistics,    Washington,  1903,  p.  69. 


THE  WHEAT  GRAIN  AND  PLANT  23 

period  for  which  conclusive  modern  scientific  experiments  have 
shown  wheat  to  be  viable  is  ten  years.  During  six  successive 
years  Saunders  found  the  average  viability  of  three  varieties 
to  be  respectively:  80,  82,  77,  37,  15  and  6  per  cent.1  Varro, 
speaking  of  the  granaries  of  the  first  century  B.  C.,  remarks 
that  the  vitality  of  wheat  can  be  preserved  in  them  for  50 
years.  Daubeny  questioned  this  in  1857,  and  stated  that  wheat 
does  not  retain  its  vitality  over  40  years.  Humboldt  states 
that  for  causes  not  well  known,  Mexican  grain  is  preserved  with 
difficulty  for  more  than  two  or  three  years.  The  reported 
germination  of  wheat  taken  from  Egyptian  mummies  thou- 
sands of  years  old  is  a  modern  myth  originating  in  the  im- 
positions of  fraud  and  cunning  upon  credulity. 

The  highest  temperature  at  which  dry  wheat  seed  can  re- 
tain its  vitality  is  also  an  unsettled  question.  Chambers 's  Cyclo- 
pedia makes  the  statement  that  some  dry  seeds  survive  212  °  F., 
and  — 248°  F.,  but  does  not  state  what  kind.  Klippart  gives 
— 58°  F.  as  the  point  at  which  wheat  loses  its  vitality,  and  says 
that  the  germinating  power  is  completely  destroyed  if  the  grain 
is  steeped  15  minutes  in  water  having  a  temperature  of  122°  F. 
According  to  the  same  writer,  it  could  perhaps  stand  170°  F. 
in  a  dry  atmosphere  without  serious  injury.  He  gives  this  as 
a  probable  reason  why  wheat  does  not  grow  in  the  tropics, 
where  the  soil  often  has  a  temperature  of  190°  F.  Recent  ex- 
perience has  shown  that  steeping  wheat  ten  minutes  in  water 
of  132  to  133°  F.  to  kill  smut  germs  does  not  injure  its  via- 
bility. In  northern  Canada,  — 52°  F.  has  no  injurious  effect 
upon  the  vitality  of  dry  and  unplanted  wheat.  Beyond  these 
temperatures,  no  scientific  experiments  have  been  found  recori- 
ed  by  the  author. 

Time  Required  for  Ripening. — The  mean  temperature  required 
for  the  successful  cultivation  and  ripening  of  wheat  has  been 
given  as  65°  F.  for  45  to  60  days,  and  55°  F.  for  three  or  four 
months  of  the  growing  season.  Of  the  wheat  in  the  United 
States,  according  to  the  census  of  1880,  67.5  per  cent  was 
grown  where  the  mean  annual  temperature  was  between  45  and 
55°  F.,  and  62.7  per  cent  of  it  where  the  annual  rainfall  was 
between  35  and  50  inches.  It  has  been  claimed  that  the  total 
amount  of  sunshine  and  heat  units  required  to  mature  a  crop 
1  Kept.  Can.  Exp.  Farms,  1903,  p.  44. 


THE    BOOK    OP    WHEAT 


of  wheat  is  the  same  for  all  latitudes,  and  that  if  these  vary, 
the  period  of  growth  will  vary  in  inverse  proportion.  In  sup- 
port of  this  position  Cooke*  collected  the  statistics  given 
below. 


Mean 

Period  of 

Temperature 

Heat 

Locality 

of  growing 

Growth 

Period 

Units 

Near  Poona  (India)  

115  days 

74.0    degrees 

8,510 

At  Alsace  (S   France)    

137     " 

59.0 

8,083 

Near  Paris  (N   France) 

160     " 

56  0 

8,950 

Near  Edinburg  (Scotland)  

182     " 

47.5       " 

8,645 

Cooke  found  the  number  of  heat  units  required  to  be  ap- 
proximately the  same  for  different  countries,  i.  e.,  about  8,500. 
Experiments  conducted  at  Fargo,  N.  D.,  to  verify  this  failed  of 
their  purpose,  and  gave  approximately  6,500  heat  units.  The 
period  of  growth  was  about  100  days.  Recent  observations 
have  shown  that  the  number  of  heat  units  decreases  when  the 
growing  period  shortens.  In  general,  the  growing  period  is 
shortest  in  the  coldest  climate. 

The  Weight  of  Different  Materials  entering  into  an  acre  of 
the  wheat  crop  is  shown  in  the  table  given  below.  All  weights 
are  in  pounds.  The  grain  and  straw  are  given  as  air  dry  ma- 
terial, which  contains  about  15  per  cent  of  water. 

WEIGHT    OF   MATERIALS  IN"   AN   ACRE   OF   WHEAT. 


Grain 

Straw 

Average 

6,600 

of  6,600 

of  6  600 

U.S 

Mont2 

Canada^ 

lb. 

lb. 

lb. 

Crop1 

Crop4 

Crop 

Crop 

Total  of  potash  phos- 
phoric acid  &  nitro'n 

52.61 

77.28 

122.67 

50.25 

72.42 

Potash 

13.69 

19.11 

40.17 

8.55 

31  62 

9  '9 

17.64 

26.85 

I'.IO 

12  75 

29.73 

40.53 

55.65 

27.60 

28.05 

522,000 

600,000 

Weight  of  grain  
Weight  of  straw  

720 
1,500 

840 
1,680 

1,440 
2,200 

1,500 
5,100 

1  Yearbook  U.    S.   Dept.   Agr.,    1894,   p.   174. 

2  Kept.    Mont.    Exp.    Sta.,    1902,   p.    61. 

3  Evidence   of   Saunders,    1900,   p.    23. 

4  Neb.    Bui.    19,    p.    15. 

*  N.  D.  Bui.  47,  p.  704. 


THE  WHEAT  GRAIN  AND  PLANT 


25 


Chemistry. — The  five  outer  layers  of  the  wheat  grain  are 
composed  chiefly  of  cellulose,  a  woody,  fibrous  substance.  The 
endosperm,  the  food  part  of  the  grain,  contains  large  quantities 
of  starch,  a  nitrogenous  substance  known  as  gluten,  a  little 
sugar,  and  the  cellulose  of  its  cell  walls.  The  gluten  content 
is  greatest  at  the  hard  exterior  of  the  endosperm.  The  softer 
center  makes  better  flour,  however^  \f or  it  remains  freer  from 
the  bran  in  the  grinding.  The  germ  is  composed  of  cellulose, 
nitrogenous  substances,  and  about  !(}  per  cent  of  fat. 

The  following  table  gives  in  per  cents  of  the  entire  weight 
the  comparison  of  different  kinds  and  commercial  grades  of 
wheat,  and  of  wheat  straw  and  chaff. 

SOMPARISONS    OF    GRADES    OF    WHEAT,    WHEAT    STRAW    AND    CHAFF. 


Kind  of  Wheat 

Water 

Ash 

Pro- 
tein 

Crude 
Fiber 

Nitro- 
gen 
free 
extract 

Fat 

310  Amer  wheats,  min1 

7.1 

0.8 

8.1 

0  4 

64  8 

1  3 

310  Amer  wheats,  max1  
310  Amer  wheats,  aver1.. 

14.0 
10.5 

3.6 
1.8 

17.2 
11.9 

3.1 
1.8 

78.6 
71  9 

3.9 
2  1 

Amer  No.  1  hard2 

1.8 

17  2 

2  4 

76  3 

2  4 

Amer  No  1  northern2  
Amer  No  2  northern2 



2.2 
2.2 

17.9 
18.3 

3.4 
3  2 

74.0 
73  9 

2.5 
2  3 

Amer  No  3  northern2 

2  4 

20  7 

3  2 

71  3 

2  4 

Minn  No  1633  
Rysting's  Fife* 

7.9 
10.3 

2.2 
1.9 

20.3 
17.3 

2.3 
2  5 

65.2 
65  3 

2.1 

2  8 

Bolton's  Blue  Stem3  
Kubanka  (durum  wheat)3  
Winter  wheat,  grain4 

9.3 
16.5 
14.4 

2.0 
2.2 
2.0 

16.6 
18.9 
13.0 

2.5 
2.5 
3  0 

67.2 
57.3 
67  6 

2.3 
2.7 
1  5 

Canada  common  wheat5  
Indian  wheat,  aver6                         

10.9 
12.5 

1.4 
1.7 

12.8 
13.5 

2.0 
2.7 

70.4 
68  4 

2.5 
1  2 

Emmer  kernels  alone7  

10.5 

1.7 

13.2 

2.6 

69.4 

2.8 

Emmer  kernels  and  chaff7  
Emmer  chaff  alone 

9.5 
6.4 

3.6 
10.5 

10.7 
2.6 

10.8 
37.9 

62.9 
41  1 

2.5 
1  6 

7  Amer  wheat  straws,  min1  
7  Amer  wheat  straws,  max1  
7  Amer  wheat  straws,  aver1 

6.5 
17.9 
9.6 

3.0 
7.0 

4.2 

2.9 
5.0 
3.4 

34.3 
42.7 
38.1 

31.0 
50.6 
43  4 

0.8 
1.8 
1  3 

Winter  wheat,  straw4  

14.3 

5.5 

2.0 

48.0 

30.2 

1.5 

Winter  wheat,  chaff4  
Durum  wheat  bran8 

14.3 
10.9 

12.0 
5.3 

4.5 
12.3 

36.0 
10.8 

33.2 
54.9 

1.4 
5  9 

Durum  wheat  shorts8  

10.4 

4.1 

14.4 

6.1 

59.2 

5.9 

Common  wheat  bran8  
Common  wheat  shorts8 

11.5 
11.8 

5.4 
4.6 

16.1 
14.9 

8.0 

7.4 

54.5 
5  6'.  8 

4.5 

4.5 

1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Office  Exp.  Sta,,  Exp.  Sta.  Bui.  11,  pp.  106-118. 

2  N.   D.    Bui.    8,   p.    6.   Average    results    from    many    analyses. 

3  Kept.  N.  D.  Exp.  Sta.,  1903,  p.  26.     Data  from  N.  D.  wheat  crop 
of  1901. 

4  Johnson,     How     Crops  Grow,  pp.   386-387. 

6  Kept.  Canada  Exp.  Farms,  1900,  p.  182.  1899  crop  grown  in  the 
N.  W.   Terrs. 

6  Church,    Food    Grains  of  India,  p.  95. 

7  An    average    from  Dak.  Stations,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farm  Bui. 
139,   p.    11. 

8  Rept.    N.   D.    Exp.   Sta..    1904.    p.    33 


26  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

The  substances  of  which  wheat  flour  is  composed  may  be  di- 
vided into  three  classes :  (1)  Nitrogenous,  which  include  main- 
ly gluten,  fibrin,  albumen,  casein,  cerealin,  and  modifications  of 
some  of  these;  (2)  non-nitrogenous,  embracing  sugar  and  dex- 
trin, but  chiefly  starch,  fat  and  cellulose;  and  (3)  the  minerals, 
for  the  largest  part  alkaline  phosphates  and  silicates,  espe- 
cially phosphate  and  silicate  of  potash. 

WATER. — Wheat  ordinarily  contains  from  10  to  15  per  cent 
of  moisture.  Changes  in  the  moisture  content  of  the  air  cause 
corresponding  variations  in  wheat,  and  consequently  in  its 
weight.  Usually  such  fluctuations  in  weight  do  not  exceed  6 
per  cent,  but  they  may  be  as  much  as  25  per  cent,  and  an  in- 
crease of  9  per  cent  in  24  hours  has  been  observed.  When 
wheat  is  shipped,  especially  if  it  is  transported  long  distances, 
this  may  be  a  matter  of  great  commercial  importance.  Wheat 
transported  from  the  dry  atmosphere  of  the  inland  of  Cali- 
fornia to  ordinary  temperate  regions  will  invariably  gain  from 
5  to  15  per  cent  in  weight.  In  a  voyage  from  San  Francisco 
to  Liverpool,  the  increase  in  weight  due  to  the  moisture  ab- 
sorbed en  route  may  be  sufficient  to  pay  all  expense  of  transpor- 
tation. Every  portion  of  the  wheat  grain  is  so  susceptible  to 
influence  from  hydroscopic  conditions  that  all  of  the  products 
of  wheat  exhibit  similar  oscillations  in  weight.  Two  days 
equalized  the  moisture  content  in  samples  of  flour  varying  from 
less  than  8  to  over  13  per  cent.1 

ASH. — Lawes  and  Gilbert  observed  the  composition  of  the 
ash  of  wheat  grown  on  unmanured  ground  during  20  years. 
The  average  results  are  given  in  the  table  below.2 

Grain 

Ferric  oxide  0.645 

Lime     3.175 

Magnesia 10.48 

Potash    33.345 

Soda 0.18 

Phosphoric   anhydride   (P205)    50.065 

Sulphuric  anhydride   (SO3)    1.42 

Chlorine     0.05 

Silica    0.655 

Total 100.015          100.485 

1  Hunt,  Cereals  in  Amer.   (1904),  p.   38;  Mich.  Bui.  191,  p.  159-164. 

2  Hunt,  Cereals  in  Amer.    (1904)  p.    39. 


THE  WHEAT  GRAIN  AND  PLANT  27 

Total     100.015          100.485 

Deduct  0=C1    015  .485 


Total    100.00  100.00 

There  is  great  uniformity  in  the  ash  constituents  of  the  grain 
of  wheat  when  it  is  not  subject  to  irregularities  in  ripening, 
and  there  is  but  slight  deviation  under  normal  variations  in 
soil  composition. 

PROTEIN. — Osborne  and  Voorhees1  recognized  and  investi- 
gated five  proteids.  Approximately  they  form  the  following 
per  cent  of  the  grain:  A  globulin,  0.65;  an  albumin,  0.35;  a 
proteose,  0.30 ;  gliadin,  4.25 ;  and  glutenin,  4.25.  Gluten  is  com- 
posed of  several  nitrogenous  compounds,  chiefly  gliadin  and 
glutenin.  Wheat  bread  owes  its  excellence  to  the  peculiar 
properties  of  gluten,  which  makes  it  lighter  and  more  digestible 
than  bread  made  from  the  other  cereals.  The  amount  and 
quality  of  gluten  determine  the  baking  qualities  of  a  flour.  It 
is  now  claimed  that  55  to  65  per  cent  of  the  total  gluten  should 
be  in  the  form  of  gliadin.  Hard  wheats  have  a  higher  gluten 
content  than  soft  wheats,  and  consequently  yield  better  flour. 
Gluten  generally  forms  from  12  to  14  per  cent  of  the  wheat 
grain.  Dough  washed  with  water  will  retain  only  the  crude 
gluten.  A  short  growing  period  or  a  season  unfavorable  to  full 
maturity  of  the  grain  increases  the  amount  of  protein.  The 
nitrogenous  compounds  are  the  most  desirable  part  of  the 
nourishment  found  in  wheat,  but  they  tend  to  give  a  yellowish 
tint  to  the  bread,  "against  which  fashion  rebels/'  for  the 
"unnatural  demand  of  the  times "  is  for  a  starchy,  snow  white 
flour. 

NITROGEN  FREE  EXTRACT. — This  forms  the  larger  portion  of 
both  grain  and  flour,  and  is  composed  very  largely  of  starch, 
the  amount  of  which  is  easily  influenced  by  the  irregularity  of 
seasons. 

Composition  Influenced  by  Seasons  and  Fertilizers. — A  favor- 
able season  seems  to  give  a  high  weight  per  bushel,  a  large  per- 
centage of  starch,  and  a  low  ash  and  nitrogen  content.  The 
following  table  gives  the  results  of  the  observations  of  Lawes 
and  Gilbert  at  Rothamsted.2 

1  Amer.   Chem.   Jour.,    15:392-471. 

2  Hunt,   Cereals  in  Amer.    (1904),  p.  43. 


28 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


Wt.  per 
bu.  Ib. 

Grain 
to 
straw 
Per  cent 

Grain 
per 
acre 
Ib. 

Straw 
per 
acre 
Ib. 

Nitrogen 
in  dry 
matter 
Per  cent 

Ash 
(pure) 
in  dry 
mat'r  % 

Average  of  eight  fav- 
orable harvests  : 
Plat  2—  Farm  yard 
manure  .    . 

62  6 

62  5 

2342 

6089 

1  73 

1  98 

Plat  3—  Unmanu'd 
Plat   10  A—  Ammo- 
nium salts  alone.. 
Average  of  eight  un- 
favorable harv's: 
Plat  2—  Farm  yard 
manure  

60.5 
60.4 

57.4 

67.4 
66.2 

54  5 

1156 
1967 

1967 

2872 
4774 

5574 

1.84 
2.09 

1  96 

1.96 
1.74 

2  06 

Plat  3  —  Unmanu'd 
Plat  10A  —  Ammo- 
nium salts  alone.. 

54.3 
53.7 

51.1 
46.7 

823 
1147 

2433 
3601 

1.98 
2.25 

2.08 
1.91 

Composition  as  Affected  by  Light.— Light  is  essential  for 
the  formation  of  proteids.  The  following  table  shows  the 
effect  of  differently  colored  glasses  upon  the  nitrogen  and 
albumen  content  of  wheat.1 


Percentages  of 

Black  Glass 

Green  Glass 

No  Glass 

Nitrogen  

2  54 

2  74 

2  08 

Albumen 

15  87 

17  12 

13  00 

Climate,  soil  and  culture  are  also  all  factors  that  affect  the 
chemical  composition  of  wheat.  They  are  treated  more  fully 
in  subsequent  chapters. 

The  Composition  of  Different  Commercial  Grades  of  wheat 
shows  that  the  amounts  of  protein  and  ash  decrease  as  the  grade 
of  wheat  becomes  higher,  while  the  nitrogen  free  extract  in- 
creases. Differences  in  protein,  gluten  or  gliadin  content  do 
not  seem  to  be  an  adequate  basis,  however,  for  the  commercial 
grading  of  wheat.  The  grading  seems  to  be  based  rather  on 
the  relative  yield  of  first  quality  flour.  The  greater  the 
weight  of  the  kernel  and  the  weight  per  bushel,  the  higher  is 
the  grade  of  the  wheat. 

Historically  there  has  been  little  change  in  the  chemical  com- 
position of  wheat.  It  seems  likely  that  the  wheat  of  ancient 
Egypt  did  not  differ  more  in  composition  from  modern  wheat 
of  the  same  variety  than  one  sample  of  modern  wheat  fre- 
quently differs  from  another. 

1  Sci.   Amer..    93    (1905):    508.  - 


CHAPTER  II. 
IMPROVEMENT  OF  WHEAT. 

INSTITUTIONAL    EVOLUTION. 

Early  Significance. — The  culture  of  wheat  has  perhaps  never 
been  exclusively  the  subject  of  individual  effort,  but  has  also 
always  been  the  subject  of  institutional  essay,  however  vague 
and  remote.  Since  the  latter  phase  of  wheat  growing  became 
scientific  in  the  nineteenth  century,  it  has  been  fraught  with  a 
significance  of  the  widest  and  deepest  interest.  From  an  in- 
stitutional point  of  view,  the  growers  of  wheat  are  not  suf- 
ficiently differentiated  from  the  agricultural  element  of  so- 
ciety to  warrant  a  distinctive  treatment  as  a  class  proper. 
Only  by  a  statement  of  such  characteristics  of  the  agricultural 
class  as  are  apropos  for  a  consideration  of  the  institutional  de- 
velopment relevant  to  the  culture  of  wheat  can  the  subject  be 
approached. 

By  proverbial  repute,  the  tillers  of  the  soil  are,  comparatively 
speaking,  independent,  unprogressive,  non-co-operative,  and 
without  marked  tendency  toward  organization.  Historically, 
they  have  been  the  last  great  class  to  be  brought  under  a 
progressive  regime  of  societal  institutions.  There  are  two  main 
causes  for  this,  neither  one  of  which  is  inherent  in  the  class. 
The  first  and  fundamental  cause  is  that  agriculture  is  an  occu- 
pation in  nature  and  conditions  such  as  to  require  isolation  of 
those  engaged  in  it,  with  comparatively  little  division  of  labor 
among  them.  It  is  an  industry  as  broad  as  the  land  upon 
which  it  takes  place,  and  admits  of  no  concentration.  On  the 
other  hand,  taking  the  number  of  people  adequately  supported 
on  a  given  area  as  a  test,  the  industry  is  universally  developed 
by  a  decrease  in  the  size  of  the  holdings  of  each  individual, 
and  by  the  diversification  of  labor  consequent  to  this  decrease. 
.The  second  cause,  more  remote  and  less  important  than  the 
first,  is  that  in  agriculture  the  influence  of  competition  is  neces- 
sarily indirect,  and  under  certain  conditions  entirely  inopera- 
tive. In  civilized  life  competition  in  one  form  or  another  has 


30  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

always  given  a  great  impetus  to  organization  and  co-operation. 
In  modern  agriculture,  especially  if  the  farmer  owns  his  land, 
the  only  point  at  which  the  influence  of  competition  can  enter 
is  in  the  sale  of  farm  products. 

Other  things  being  equal,  a  progressive  farmer  may  be  able 
to  offer  his  wheat  for  sale  at  a  price  below  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion for  the  unprogressive  grower.  While  this  is  competition, 
its  point  of  incidence  is  mainly  below  the  line  of  subsistence 
for  the  farmer,  and  as  most  farmers  are  above  this  line,  much 
of  the  force  of  competition  is  lost.  When  a  government  guar- 
antees to  an  individual  the  ownership  of  a  certain  area  of  land, 
he  has  a  monopoly  of  that  area  as  long  as  he  raises  enough 
produce  from  it  to  pay  the  taxes,  or  their  equivalent,  for  the 
governmental  guarantee,  and  to  keep  himself  supplied  with  the 
necessaries  of  life.  If  he  is  unprogressive  and  isolated  in  his 
farming,  he  is  quite  free  to  continue  so  his  whole  life,  and  his 
son  and  his  grandson  are  just  as  free  to  follow  in  his  footsteps. 

In  the  early  days  the  farmer  looked  to  better  informed 
powers  than  those  of  human  origin  for  the  solution  of  difficult 
problems.  Wily  and  insinuating  shamans  and  medicine  men 
astutely  took  a  benevolent  interest  in  him  by  unfolding,  in- 
terpreting, and  at  times  even  creating,  the  knowledge  and  in- 
struction which  numerous  deities  dispensed  through  these, 
their  agents,  for  the  benefit  of  agricultural  mankind.  When  to 
plow,  sow,  harvest,  and  when  to  sell  his  crop,  were  thus  made 
manifest  to  him  by  the  deities  whose  special  business  it  was 
to  know  these  things.  The  gifts  of  rain  and  sunshine  were  in 
their  hands.  They  alone  were  the  instrumentalities  of  fructi- 
fication and  bounteous  harvests.  With  the  advance  of  civili- 
zation, however,  the  deities  became  less  communicative,  the 
shaman's  magic  power  waned  and  became  less  occult,  while  his 
usual  recompense  grew  more  burdensome  to  those  who  paid  it, 
and  his  functions  became  differentiated  and  were  gradually  as- 
sumed by  the  botanist,  the  chemist,  the  agriculturist,  the 
physicist,  the  miller,  the  speculator,  the  instructor,  and  above 
all,  the  experimenter.  As  the  paternal  concern  of  the  gods 
and  medicine  men  for  the  farmer  became  relaxed,  little  interest 
was  taken  in  him  for  centuries,  and  he  has  never  since  been  the 
object  of  such  profound  solicitude  from  any  source.  In  the 
middle  ages  and  during  the  conquests  of  the  Goths,  Vandals 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  WHEAT  31 

and  other  barbarians,  agriculture  in  Europe  ebbed  to  the  lowest 
degree  of  respectability.  It  was  revived  by  the  Saracens  of 
Spain,  and  by  their  successors,  the  Moors,  it  was  carried  to  a 
height  perhaps  not  surpassed  in  Europe  before  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

While  Plato,  Socrates  and  Pliny  took  an  interest  in  agricul- 
ture, it  is  claimed  that  the  oldest  of  writers  on  husbandry 
whose  works  have  survived  is  Cato,  the  Roman  Censor  (234-149 
B.  C.).  In  1757,  Home  stated  that  Virgil  and  Columella  were 
still  the  best  authors  on  this  subject.  From  the  downfall  of  the 
Roman  democracy  until  the  dawn  of  English  history,  little  was 
written  on  agriculture.  At  times  it  was  encouraged  in  a  gen- 
eral way  and  highly  honored,  as  it  always  has  been  in  China, 
but  usually  the  farmer  was  left  to  work  out  his  own  salvation. 
This  he  did,  and  successfully,  though  it  required  centuries  of 
time.  He  no  longer  relies  for  information  upon  the  elucida- 
tions of  subtle  shamans  revealing  the  will  of  elusive,  evasive, 
and  ever  vanishing  gods,  creations  of  the  fancy.  In  nearly 
every  civilized  country  of  the  world  he  is  supported  by  scien- 
tifically grounded  institutions.  As  these  are  practically  the 
scientific  foundation  of  modern  wheat  raising,  especially  of 
some  of  its  most  recent  and  interesting  phases,  they  are  con- 
sidered of  sufficient  importance  here  to  be  taken  up  briefly. 

The  National  Governments  of  all  of  the  principal  wheat 
growing  countries  of  the  world  are  factors  in  an  official  capacity 
in  the  culture  of  wheat,  and  at  times  millions  of  dollars  are 
expended  by  a  single  government  in  endeavoring  to  solve  some 
problem  of  unusual  importance.  In  the  United  States,  Wash- 
ington in  1796  suggested  the  establishment  of  a  national  board 
of  agriculture.  The  first  appropriation  made  by  Congress  for 
agricultural  purposes  was  in  1839,  $1,000.  Lincoln  approved 
the  act  which  established  our  National  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture in  18G2.  Under  Cleveland,  in  1889,  it  was  raised  to  an 
Executive  Department. 

The  development  of  the  department  has  been  surprising,  es- 
pecially in  recent  years.  The  things  most  characteristic  of  it 
have  been  its  rapidly  increasing  magnitude,  the  study  of  ques- 
tions most  diversified  in  interests  and  far-reaching  in  impor- 
tance, and  the  thorough,  effectual  and  scientific  methods 
employed.  As  new  interests  arose,  were  investigated,  and  in- 


32  THE    BOOK   Off   WHEAT 

creased  in  importance,  they  were  assigned  to  a  new  bureau 
or  division  especially  created  for  their  research.  The  distribu- 
tion of  seeds  and  plants  was  begun  in  1839.  Since  that  time, 
over  20  divisions  and  bureaus  have  been  created.1  The  impor- 
tance that  may  be  attached  to  the  activities  of  the  department 
is  well  illustrated  by  its  work  with  durum  wheat.  By  securing 
its  introduction  and  its  use  in  manufacturing  macaroni  in  the 
United  States,  the  department  practically  established  a  new 
industry,  in  addition  to  extending  materially  the  wheat  pro- 
ducing area. 

Experiment  Stations. — Liebig  in  Germany,  Boussingault  in 
France,  and  Lawes  and  Gilbert  in  England,  were  the  greatest  of 
the  pioneers  who  blazed  the  path  subsequently  followed  by 
the  experiment  station.  The  organization  of  scientific  experi- 
mentation with  governmental  aid  dates  from  1851.  The 
American  stations  are  an  adaptation  of  those  of  Europe  to  the 
conditions  and  requirements  of  this  country,  but  one  of  their 
characteristic  features  is  extensive  co-operation.  Their  establish- 
ment naturally  followed  that  of  the  agricultural  colleges.  In 
1875  the  first  station  in  the  United  States  was  established  at 
Middletown,  Conn.,  for  which  the  credit  is  due  to  Orange  Judd, 
then  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  American  Agriculturist.  Sev- 
enteen stations  had  been  established  by  1887,  when  Congress 
passed  the  Hatch  act,  the  great  boon  for  American  stations. 
In  1894,  55  stations  were  in  operation.  At  some  of  the  sta- 
tions, especially  that  of  Minnesota,  new  varieties  of  wheat  and 
other  cereals  have  been  originated  which  increase  the  yield 
several  bushels  per  acre  over  old  varieties  under  the  same  con- 
ditions, giving  to  the  farmer  a  pure  gain  of  millions  of  bushels. 

Agricultural  Institutions  of  Learning. — The  American  agri- 
cultural colleges  were  organized  under  the  land  grant  act  passed 
in  1862,  supplemented  by  an  act  of  1890.  Under  the  provisions 
of  these  acts  65  institutions  are  in  operation  in  the  several 
states  and  territories.  The  movement  for  farmers'  institutes, 
originating  in  various  farmers'  societies,  has  now  become 
national  in  scope,  and  during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1905,  in- 
stitutes were  held  in  nearly  all  of  the  states  and  territories. 

1  For  a  complete  account  of  the  department,  state  experiment 
stations  and  agricultural  colleges,  see  Bulletin  112,  Office  of  Experi- 
ment Stations,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  WHEAT  33 

Economic  Position  of  Wheat  Growers. — The  story  of  the  ag- 
riculture of  the  wheat  area  in  the  middle  west  of  our  country 
is  the  oft  repeated  one  of  agriculture  in  a  new  country,  a  fact 
which  bespeaks  an  economic  justification.  There  was  but  one 
way  in  which  the  western  pioneer  could  draw  a  draft  that 
would  be  honored  for  the  cost  of  buildings,  machinery  and 
live  stock,  and  that  was  to  draw  it  at  the  expense  of  the  natural 
fertility  of  the  soil.  One-crop  wheat  farming  and  neglect  of 
crop  rotation  and  domestic  animals  resulted.  For  over  half  a 
century,  " Uncle  Sam  is  rich  enough  to  give  us  all  a  farm," 
was  a  household  phrase.  The  farm  having  been  obtained,  it 
was  used  and  abused  in  every  way  that  was  supposed  to  yield 
the  largest  amount  of  immediate  profit,  regardless  of  all  other 
considerations.  In  no  other  section  was  this  so  true  as  in  the 
wheat  raising  areas.  In  the  meantime,  millions  of  acres  of 
fresh  land  produced  more  grain  than  domestic  consumption 
could  utilize,  and  for  years  the  very  existence  of  the  farmer 
was  threatened  by  40-cent  wheat  and  20-cent  corn.  Lack  of 
capital  and  the  hard  conditions  of  frontier  life  soon  resulted 
in  debt.  Often  there  was  not  the  wherewithal  to  pay  the  high 
interest  and  to  procure  the  necessaries  of  life.  With  the 
twentieth  century  came  a  change,  a  change  of  such  moment  and 
speed  as  to  be  without  parallel  in  the  economic  history  of 
agriculture.  The  prosperity  of  the  middle  west  transformed 
a  million  agricultural  debtors  into  financially  independent 
farmers.  Free  land,  free  immigration,  and  free  private  enter- 
prise in  railroad  construction  were  the  chief  factors  that  ulti- 
mately led,  not  only  to  financial  independence,  but  also  to  a 
new  dignity  and  to  a  higher  standard  of  living.  With  the 
telephone,  the  daily  mail  and  newspaper,  and  means  for  travel- 
ing, a  new  horizon  of  comfort  surmounts  the  skyline  of  the 
farmers '  economic  strength.  This  recent  era  of  rural  pros- 
perity augurs  well  for  the  nation's  future. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

Wheat  Improvement  Proper  consists  of  artificially  increasing 
the  natural  variations  of  the  wheat  plant  and  its  environment. 
Historically,  it  is  unknown  whether  the  plant  or  the  environ- 
ment was  first  the  subject  of  improvement.  The  subsequent 


IMPROVEMENT   OF  WHEAT  35 

portion  of  this  chapter  is  exclusively  devoted  to  the  plant,  the 
treatment  of  which  naturally  comes  first. 

Variation. — It  has  been  recognized  for  at  least  a  century 
that  wheat  is  capable  of  variations.  These  may  be  peculiar  to 
the  plant  itself,  and  may  occur  although  the  environment  re- 
mains constant.  Variation  in  this  sense  became  established 
only  with  the  theory  of  evolution,  and  refers  to  those  changes 
which  tend  to  become  permanent  through  inheritance.  Such 
variations  are  assumed  to  be  the  manifestations  of  a  natural 
tendency  inherent  to  all  organic  life. 

The  theory  of  common  descent  for  all  living  beings  found 
its  first  great  advocator  in  Lamark  at  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Fifty  years  later  Darwin  assembled  enough 
evidence  in  support  of  the  theory  to  enable  it  to  gain  general 
acceptation.  Darwin  assumed  that  the  great  variation  in- 
volved in  the  theory  proceeded  in  the  main  by  slow  and  gradual 
changes.  He  recognized,  however,  that  species  may  also  origi- 
nate in  nature  by  leaps  and  sports.  The  theory  that  all  varia- 
tion occurs  by  sudden  mutations  has  been  held  by  a  minority 
of  scientists.  Cope  and  De  Vries1  are  among  those  who  have 
most  recently  increased  the  evidence  in  this  direction.  A  de- 
fence of  discontinuous  evolution  has  also  been  made  by  various 
other  scientists,  such  as  the  paleontologist  Dollo,  the  zoologist 
Bateson,  and  the  botanist  Korshinsky.  In  general,  it  may  be 
said  that  if  the  followers  of  Darwin  have  been  open  to  the 
criticism  of  under-emphasizing  sudden  change,  the  supporters  of 
the  theory  of  mutations  have  certainly  erred  more  widely  in  the 
opposite  extreme. 

Variations  may  also  be  induced.  In  this  process  two  different 
methods  may  be  used,  hybridization  and  change  of  environ- 
ment. Only  those  variations  which  may  occur  or  be  induced 
independently  of  environment  are  considered  in  this  chapter. 
Others  are  treated  in  subsequent  chapters.  Variations  may 
include  differences  in  habit  of  growth,  chemical  composition, 
periods  of  development,  appearance,  form,  yield,  prolificacy, 
vigor,  hardiness  and  stability  of  type.  Whatever  his  concep- 

1  An  able  criticism  of  the  theory  of  mutations  has  been  made  by 
Prof  "W.  P.  R.  Weldon,  "Professor  De  Vries  on  the  origin  of  species," 
Biometrika,  1:365,  1902.  A  study  of  this  theory  is  interesting  in 
conjunction  with  the  more  elaborate  theory  of  homotyposis  devel- 
oped by  Prof  Karl  Pearson  in  his  work  at  University  College,  Eng- 
land, but  space  forbids  a  discussion  of  the  matter  here. 


36  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

tion  of  variation  may  be,  the  scientific  wheat  grower  utilizes 
the  process  in  two  different  ways,  by  the  simple  process  of  se- 
lection, or  by  the  compound  process  of  selection,  hybridization 
and  selection. 

Selection  is  an  unfailing  means  for  the  modification  of  form 
and  tendency  in  organic  life.  It  augments  the  power  of  varia- 
tion by  successively  selecting  the  most  marked  variations  in 
any  direction.  While  conscious  selection  is  a  modern  process 
which  has  attained  commercial  importance  at  a  comparatively 
recent  date,  there  is  no  doubt  of  selection  having  been  one  of 
the  most  powerful  influences  from  the  very  first  in  developing 
wheat,  although  men  were  not  aware  of  its  operation.  What- 
ever protection  or  cultivation  early  man  bestowed  upon  the 
cereal  plants  was  naturally  bestowed  upon  the  grasses  and 
wheats  which  produced  the  most  food  in  return,  and  not  upon 
those  comparatively  less  important  as  food.  The  very  essence 
of  the  importance  attached  to  wheat  has  always  been  its  food 
yielding  quality.  It  is  a  perfectly  sound  inference  that  those 
varieties  of  wheat  which  had  this  quality  in  the  highest  de- 
gree had  an  advantage  which  aided  them  to  survive  other  va- 
rieties. This,  however,  is  only  the  operation  of  the  prime 
factor  of  selection,  or,  as  Darwin  calls  it,  the  "law  of  the 
preservation  of  the  favorable  individual  differences  and  varia- 
tions, and  the  destruction  of  those  which  are  injurious." 

Selection  and  cultivation,  in  the  ordinary  sense,  were  the 
processes  of  domestication.  After  domestication,  varieties  con- 
tinue to  be  propagated  in  a  similar  manner.  The  results  have 
been  attained  none  the  less  advantageously  and  certainly  on 
account  of  the  fact  that  man  was  unconsciously  the  selecting 
agent.  To  this  force  of  artificial  selection  was  added  that  of 
natural  selection  in  early  development,  which  was  a  result  of 
the  coincidence  that  the  quality  of  wheat  as  a  human  food  and 
the  reproductive  functions  of  the  plant  were  both  united  in  its 
seed.  The  plant  producing  the  greatest  number  of  seeds  was 
most  apt  to  survive,  not  only  because  man  was  most  likely  to 
give  it  his  fostering  care,  but  also  because  of  the  increased 
chances  of  reproduction.  In  wheat  artificially  sown,  care 
must  be  exercised  lest  this  force  of  natural  selection  operate 
disadvantageously,  for  fewer  seeds  are  no  longer  a  disadvantage 
in  reproduction.  If  for  any  reason,  such  as  being  brought  to  a. 


IMPROVEMENT   OF   WHEAT 


37 


new  climate,  wheat  shows  an  unusual  tendency  to  vary,  it 
changes,  and  if  the  better  yielding  plants  are  crowded  out  the 
change  results  in  a  lower  yield.  Virgil1  mentions  selection 
of  seed  before  the  time  of  Christ,  and  noticed  its  advantages. 
A  Scottish  agriculturist,  Shireff,  made  discoveries  pertaining 
to  the  selection  of  wheat  as  early  as  1819.  The  Belgian  horti- 
culturist, Van  Mons,  scientifically  practiced  selection  before 
1835.  The  works  of  Le  Couteur,  the  English  breeder,  show 
that  selection  in  wheat  was  early  practiced,  but  never  long 
continued  or  repeated.  One  of  the  early  experiments  in  selec- 
tion of  wheat  was  that  of  Hallett2  in  England,  begun  in  1857. 
He  selected  the  best  heads  and  kernels.  The  following  table 
gives  his  results. 

EXPERIMENTS    IN    SELECTION    OF    WHEAT. 


Year 

Grains 

Length 

No.  of 
grains 

No.  of 
ears 
on  one 
root 

1857 

Original  ear 

4  3-8  inches 

47 

1858 

79 

10 

1859 
1860 

Finest  ear  raised  

7  3-4  inches 

91 

22 
39 

1861 

Finest  ear                      . 

8  3-4  inches 

123 

52 

Thus  by  means  of  repeated  selection  alone,  the  length  of  th( 
ear  was  doubled,  the  number  of  grains  per  head  was  nearly 
trebled,  and  the  tillering  power  was  increased  over  fivefold.  It 
is  only  within  recent  years  that  wheat  experiments  of  this 
nature  have  been  carried  on  in  America.  The  most  extensive 
and  successful  of  these  were  begun  in  1892  at  the  Minnesota 
experiment  station  under  the  direction  of  Prof.  W.  M.  Hays. 
From  1891  to  1896  experiments  were  made  in  Kansas  with 
light,  common  and  heavy  seed,  and  seed  from  selected  heads. 
The  light  seed  uniformly  gave  a  lower  yield,  but  common  seed 
gave  the  highest  yield  during  three  years.3  At  the  Minnesota 
station  from  1895  to  1898,  No.  169,  a  wheat  selected' on  prin- 
ciples similar  to  those  of  Hallett,  gave  an  average  yield  of 
28.3  bushels  per  acre,  while  during  the  same  years  the  un- 

1  Georgics   I.,   lines   286-288. 

2  Neb.  Bui.  32,  p.  91. 

8  Kan.  Buls.  20,  33,  40  and  59. 


38 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


selected  parent  sort  yielded  only  22.5  bushels,  an  increase  dur- 
ing four  years  of  5.8  bushels  per  acre.  In  ten  years  nearly  25 
per  cent  in  yield  was  gained.1 

Ninety-six  tests  of  selected  wheat  seed  during  the  years  1900 
to  1902  at  the  Canada  experiment  farms  gave  an  average  gain 
of  about  3.6  per  cent  in  favor  of  selection.2  Principles  differ- 
ing somewhat  from  those  usually  followed  in  selection  were 


CROSSING   AS   A   CAUSE   OP   VARIATION  I 

Yield  in  grain  of  100  plants,  showing  greater  variation  in  yield  of  hybrid  than 
of  parents.    Yield  of  hybrid  shown  oy  x  line.    (After  Hays.) 

utilized  by  Lyon.3  His  selections  were  for  quality  rather  than 
quantity.  He  experimented  with  the  smallest  and  lightest  ker- 
nels on  account  of  their  high  nitrogen  content.  Heavy  seed 
planted  at  the  rate  of  1.5  bushels  per  acre  gave  a  greater  yield 
of  wheat  the  first  year  than  light  seed  sowed  at  the  same  rate. 
Selecting  heavy  seed  grown  from  the  heavy  wheat  and  light 
from  the  light  wheat,  the  difference  in  yield  in  3  or  4  years  was 
small.  After  the  first  year  of  the  separation,  the  light  seed 
gave  much  the  greater  amount  of  proteids  per  acre.  Lyon 
points  out,  however,  that  proteid  nitrogen  is  no  index  to  the 
amount  of  gluten,  which  is  the  better  basis  for  improvement. 
It  is  not  yet  decided  whether  selection  should  be  for  plants  with 
large  heads  or  for  plants  with  a  large  number  of  medium-sized 
heads.  In  general,  the  results  of  many  experiments  seem  to 
favor  the  selection  of  large  seed.4 

1  Hays,   Plant  Breeding,  p.    10. 

3  Evidence  of  Wm.   Saunders,   1903,  p.  48. 

•  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Plant  Indus.,  Bui.  78    (1905). 

«  Hunt,  Cereals  in  Amer.  (1904),  pp.    87-89. 


IMPROVEMENT   OF   WHEAT  39 

While  there  may  be  a  few  slight  or  questionable  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule/  it  can  be  said  that  enough  results  of 
scientifically  conducted  experiments  are  now  at  hand  to  prove 
conclusively  that  by  means  of  selection  alone  the  yield  of  wheat 
can  be  materially  increased,  even  in  a  few  years.  The  gain 
from  the  increased  yield  is  much  greater  than  the  cost  of  mak- 
ing the  selection,  if  the  work  is  carried  on  systematically 
through  a  series  of  years. 

A  method  frequently  used  is  the  selection  of  plump  kernels 
from  grain  in  the  bulk.  While  there  is  doubtless  some  ad- 
vantage in  this  method,  it  cannot  give  the  best  results,  for 
many  of  the  plump  kernels  may  come  from  imperfectly  filled 
heads,  or  from  plants  having  few  or  weak  suckers.  Selection 
is  a  choosing  of  the  individual,  which,  in  the  case  of  wheat,  is 
a  stool  with  several  spikes  and  many  seeds.  When  mutually 
antagonistic  characters  are  desirable,  such  as  earliness  and 
productiveness,  selection  is  very  difficult  and  requires  good 
judgment.  By  proper  selection,  not  only  may  yield  be  in- 
creased, but  all  the  other  variations  above  mentioned  may  be 
influenced.  Prolificacy  of  races  may  be  fixed.  Another  im- 
portant quality  to  be  considered  is  vigor.  Indeed,  it  has  been 
held  that  the  vigor  and  productiveness  of  the  parent  are  far 
more  important  than  its  mere  size. 

The  chance  of  improvement  by  selection  increases  as  the 
number  from  which  individuals  may  be  chosen  grows  larger. 
The  plant  breeder  has  a  great  economic  advantage  over  the 
animal  breeder,  for  the  expense  of  producing  seeds  for  individ- 
ual plants  is  so  small  that  only  a  few  of  the  best  seeds  are 
kept,  while  in  animal  breeding  expense  ordinarily  forbids  disre- 
garding more  than  a  small  per  cent  as  poor  specimens.  Pro- 
digious variations  may  be  induced  by  a  long  continuation  of  the 
selective  process.  Rigid  selection  systematically  and  scientifi- 
cally practiced  on  a  large  scale  by  European  seed  growers  in 
the  last  century  has  increased  the  sugar  content  of  sugar  beets 
more  than  100  per  cent.2  Six  years  of  selection  at  the  Minne- 
sota station  increased  the  length  of  flax  fiber  over  20  per  cent. 
Hays  estimates  that  the  farmers  have  increased  the  yield  of 
corn  20  per  cent  by  annually  selecting  the  largest  and  best 
formed  ears  from  among  many  thousands.  The  process  has 

1  Thorpe,    Harper's    Mag.,     15:302. 

2  Yearbook  U.   S.  Dept.  Agr.,   1901,   pp.   217-218. 


'40  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

also  resulted  in  adapting  corn  to  regions  far  north  of  its 
former  habitat.  Wheat  perhaps  has  not  been  so  generally  im- 
proved by  selection  as  corn  has,  but  the  wide  practice  of  seed 
grading  through  the  use  of  the  fanning  mill  must  have  similar 
results.  This '"is  a  slow  process,  however,  and  no  great  changes 

iare  effected  at  any  one  time. 

Natural  selection  is  also  continually  operative,  especially  in 

; connection  with  such  qualities  as  rust  resistance  and  hardiness 
against  heat,  drought  or  cold.  Thus  wheat  naturally  tends  to 
adapt  itself  to  its  environment.  Such  crude  methods  of  seed 
selection  as  have  been  practiced  in  conjunction  with  natural 
selection  have  been  the  factors  in  evolving  Turkey  wheat  so 
that  it  is  more  drought  resistant  than  formerly,  and  has  im- 
proved in  hardiness  so  that  it  can  be  grown  much  farther 
north.  Quality  of  the  grain  in  any  respect,  yield,  earliness  in 
ripening,  and  non-shattering,  in  addition  to  the  qualities  just 
named  above,  are  some  of  the  most  important  characteristics 
that  may  be  readily  increased  on  any  farm  by  selecting  seed 
from  those  plants  which  exhibit  these  qualities  in  the  highest 
degree.  As  these  things  cannot  be  properly  determined  after 
harvest,  all  selections  for  seed  should  be  made  in  the  field. 
Marked  variations  or  sports  possessing  improved  characters  are 
occasionally  met  with  in  the  fields.  These  are  often  carefully 
developed  into  valuable  races  by  seed  selection.  Fultz,  some 
of  the  Fife  wheats,  and  many  other  well-known  races  have 
been  originated  in  this  way. 

Hybridization  consists  in  cross-fertilization.  This  may  be 
simple,  the  fertilization  of  one  race  with  another,  resulting  in 
a  hybrid  of  two  bloods,  or  it  may  be  composite,  the  fertilization 
of  a  hybrid  with  another  race  or  hybrid,  resulting  in  a  hybrid 
containing  the  blood  of  three  or  more  races  or  species.  Hy- 
bridization may  be  natural  or  artificial.  Natural  hybrids  rare- 
ly occur.  This  is  shown  by  growing  different  varieties  of 
wheat  side  by  side.  Why  varieties  do  not  cross  under  these 
circumstances  has  not  been  fully  explained.  It  is  claimed  that 
over  half  of  the  pollen  from  an  anther  is  deposited  into  the  air, 
and  it  would  seem  that  it  could  readily  find  its  way  to  adjacent 
flowers.  Possibly  the  stigma  is  usually  not  receptive  to  foreign 
pollen. 


IMPROVEMENT   OF  WHEAT  41 

In  artificial  cross-fertilization,  self-fertilization  must  be  pre- 
vented by  removing  the  male  organs,  the  anthers,  from  the 
flower  before  the  plumes  are  open  and  the  pollen  shed.  A 
good  spike  of  wheat  is  prepared  for  hybridization  by  removing 
with  sharp  scissors  all  but  one  or  two  dozen  strong  flowers  in 
the  center  of  the  spike.  From  these  the  anthers  are  removed 
while  they  are  still  green,  or  slightly  tinged  with  yellow.  To 
prevent  accidental  introduction  of  foreign  pollen,  the  emascu- 
lated spike  is  wrapped  about  with  tissue  paper,  tied  above  and 
below.  Neighboring  spikes  of  the  same  age  show  when  the 
flowers  are  fully  developed,  usually  in  one  or  two  days.  Pol- 
len brought  from  the  variety  chosen  for  the  male  parent  is 
then  inserted  into  the  emasculated  florets,  and  the  cross- 
pollinated  spike  is  again  wrapped  to  exclude  other  pollen  and 
to  afford  protection  against  pilfering  birds  and  insects.  The 
hybrid  produced  partakes  of  the  characters  of  both  parents. 
Saunders  found  that  the  crossbred  kernel  closely  resembles 
that  of  the  female  plant,  and  that  the  modifications  were  not 
distinctly  manifest  until  the  second  generation,  when  they  ap- 
peared in  a  remarkable  degree.  Some  races  of  wheat  may 
differ  so  widely  that  they  cannot  be  successfully  crossed.  If 
it  is  desired  to  combine  the  characteristics  of  the  two,  it  can  be 
done  by  first  crossing  each  with  an  allied  variety,  when  com- 
posite hybridization  will  succeed  between  the  two  hybrids 
produced. 

The  operation  of  cross-fertilization  is  by  far  the  easiest  part 
of  the  process  for  attaining  results  desired.  We  began  with 
a  "good  spike."  To  secure  this  requires  a  ready  knowledge 
and  judgment  of  wheat.  In  hybridization,  as  in  selection,  any 
quality  may  serve  as  an  ideal  for  the  operator.  To  attain 
success,  he  must  know  for  which  qualities  to  seek  and  he  must 
have  the  judgment  which  enables  him  to  recognize  these  qual- 
ities and  to  select  a  foundation  stock  which  possesses  them  in 
a  high  degree.  This  is  truly  a  case  of  well  begun,  half  done. 
Certain  desirable  or  necessary  qualities  may  be  entirely  lack- 
ing in  a  variety,  which  must  then  be  improved  by  breeding  into 
it  the  desired  characteristics  from  some  other  variety  possess- 
ing them  to  an  unusual  extent.  In  selecting  a  stock  with  which 
to  begin,  it  is  advantageous  to  draw  from  a  variety  already 
improved  by  selection,  but  the  breeding  of  wheat  should  not  be 


42 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


limited  to  the  few  very  best  wheats,  for  a  fairly  large  number 
of  varieties  can  be  used  profitably  for  special  characteristics. 
The  great  advantage  of  hybridization  is  shown  in  three  ef- 
fects, all  of  which  aid  in  accomplishing  more  rapidly  the 
results  aimed  at  in  selection.  It  makes  it  possible  immediately 
and  directly  to  combine  the  qualities  of  two  different  plants 
in  one;  it  immensely  increases  that  variation  which  alone 
makes  selection  possible  ;  and  it  imparts  greater  vigor  to  the 
offspring.  Hybridizing  does  not  always  give  a  progeny  im- 


Hybrid* 


Hybrid  7 


DIAGRAM   SHOWING  PEDIGREE   OF  GARTON^S   HYBRID. 

mediately  averaging  better  than  the  parents.  In  many  cases 
the  first  progeny  will  average  much  poorer  than  either  parent. 
Its  great  value  lies  in  throwing  together  qualities  and  multi- 
plying variations,  both  of  which  may  be  developed  by  selec- 
tion. This  greatly  increased  variation  has  been  explained  on 
the  ground  that  "the  wheat  plant  being  so  closely  self  -fertile, 
there  is  within  it,  lying  dormant,  a  wonderful  power  to  vary 
(a  power  far  greater  than  in  plants  cross-fertilized  in  nature), 
which  is  thrown  into  action  when  different  varieties  are  arti- 
ficially crossed.  "  As  to  these  varieties  Hays  says:  "The 
further  they  have  departed  from  ancestral  characteristics  and 
formed  diverse  qualities,  the  more  likely  will  their  progeny  ex- 
hibit new  characteristics  made  up  by  combining  those  which 
have  become  so  radically  different  in  the  two  parents.  "  '  There 

1  Carleton,  Basis  for  Tmprov.  of  Amer.  Wheats,  p.  73. 
a  Plant  Breeding,  p.  37. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  WHEAT  43 

also  arise  characteristics  so  new  in  kind  and  degree  that  they 
can  hardly  be  considered  as  a  mere  combination  of  any  char- 
acteristics found  in  the  parents.  All  of  the  so-called  "  botan- 
ical" classes  of  wheat  have  been  produced  by  hybridizing  two 
varieties,  a  fact  which  "certainly  indicates  blood  relation- 
ships between  the  classes  of  wheats. " 

Since  the  qualities  originated  by  hybridization  must  be  de- 
veloped by  selection,  it  may  take  years  before  the  value  of  the 
hybrid  can  be  determined.  The  advantage  in  large  numbers 
lies  in  the  fact  that  "only  one  individual  in  several  thousand 
has  marked  power  to  produce  a  valuable  strain."  These  in- 
dividuals have  been  called  the  "  Shakespeares  of  the  species," 
and  the  labor  of  eliminating  by  selection  all  of  the  other  in- 
dividuals is  99  times  that  of  producing  the  hybrids.1  By  the 
usual  method,  the  seeds  to  be  tested  and  selected  are  planted 
individually  in  rows  4  or  5  inches  apart.  If  any  promising 
plants  develop,  100  seeds  from  each  are  again  planted.  These 
groups  of  plants  from  single  parents  are  called  centgeners. 
By  means  of  selection,  crossbred  wheats  can  thus  be  reduced 
in  four  or  five  generations  to  a  type  so  uniform  that  little  or 
no  variation  will  occur  among  plants  in  the  field.  Whether 
they  will  retain  their  acquired  characteristics  has  been  ques- 
tioned. Hybrids  originated  by  Hays  and  Saunders  seem  to  do 
so.  The  question  as  to  whether  wheat  will  deteriorate  under 
self-fertilization  is  still  an  open  one. 

In  breeding  a  variety  of  wheat,  the  ideal  to  be  held  in  mind 
constantly  is  ' '  that  it  yield  the  largest  possible  amount  of  grain 
of  the  best  quality  for  the  purpose  desired  under  given  con- 
ditions."2 In  such  a  course  botanical  appearances  seemingly 
will  take  care  of  themselves. 

Historical. — The  sexuality  of  plants  was  proved  experi- 
mentally by  Camerarius  (1691).  The  first  recorded  hybrid  was 
produced  by  Thomas  Fairchild  (1719),  an  English  gardener, 
who  crossed  the  carnation  with  the  sweet  william.  The  publi- 
cations of  Koelreuter  (1761)  paved  the  way  for  the  work  of 
Thomas  Andrew  Knight  (1800),  the  eminent  English  plant 
physiologist,  who  has  been  called  the  father  of  plant  breed- 

1  Hays,   Yearbook  U.    S.   Dept.  Agr.,    1901,  p.  229. 

2  Scofleld,   Algerian  Durum   Wheats,   p.  7. 


44  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

ing.  The  first  hybrid  produced  in  the  United  States  was  prob- 
ably a  pear  (1806).  The  importance  of  hybridization  in  re- 
lation to  variation  was  demonstrated  by  Naudin  and  Nageli 
(1865). 

The  pioneer  producer  of  wheat  hybrids  in  America  was  C.  G. 
Pringle  of  Charlotte,  Vt.  He  began  his  work  in  1877,  and  sev- 
eral varieties  have  received  his  name,  some  of  which  have  be- 
come standard.  Pringle  ?s  Defiance  has  been  a  rust  resistant 
variety  of  California  since  1878.  During  his  connection  with 
the  Colorado  agricultural  college  A.  E.  Blount  produced  quite  a 
large  number  of  hybrids,  some  of  which  are  now  well  known  in 
the  United  States  and  are  also  among  the  most  valuable  va- 
rieties in  Australia,  both  as  field  wheats  and  as  parents  of 
native  hybrids.  The  most  important  are  Amethyst,  Improved 
Fife,  Hornblende,  Gypsum,  Blount  '&  No.  10,  Felspar,  Ruby  and 
Granite. 

The  director  of  the  experimental  farm  at  Ottawa,  Canada, 
Dr.  William  Saunders,  began  hybridizing  wheats  in  1888.  His 
main  object  has  been  to  procure  early  ripening  varieties,  and 
he  has  attained  success  by  hybridizing  American  and  Russian 
races.  Preston  and  Stanley  are  two  of  his  best  productions. 
In  the  main  these  hybrids  have  been  produced  in  the  most 
simple  way.  A.  N.  Jones  of  Newark,  N.  Y.,  practicing  com- 
posite crossing,  though  always  with  quite  closely  allied  par- 
ents, has  done  the  most  important  work  in  wheat  hybridization 
in  this  country,  and  his  varieties  are  now  the  most  widely  used 
of  all  recent  American  wheat  hybrids.  The  two  features  char- 
acteristic of  his  work  have  been  composite  methods,  and  high 
gluten  content  as  an  ideal.  The  nature  of  the  soil  and  climate 
of  eastern  United  States  is  such  as  to  produce  soft  and  starchy 
wheats.  His  efforts  have  been  to  raise  the  standard  of  eastern 
varieties  as  to  gluten,  and  he  has  largely  succeeded.  Winter 
Fife  and  Early  Red  Clawson  were  the  two  most  popular  of  his 
first  varieties.  Early  Genesee  Giant,  another  well-known  va- 
riety which  he  originated,  is  widely  grown  in  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania.  It  has  no  ancestors  outside  of  the  common 
bread-wheat  group.  This  seems  to  be  a  weak  point  in  Jones' 
method  of  procedure,  for  the  most  advantageous  composite 
crossing  is  supposed  to  be  with  varieties  of  entirely  different 
wheat  groups. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  WHEAT  45 

This  gives  by  far  the  greatest  variations  in  degree  and  num- 
ber, and  gives  qualities  not  otherwise  obtainable.  For  ex- 
ample, the  highest  degree  of  non-shattering  must  be  obtained 
from  spelt  or  emmer,  while  the  quality  of  resistance  to  leaf 
rust  is  best  acquired  by  crossing  with  the  durums.  Jones' 
Winter  Fife  could  not  be  grown  in  the  Palouse  country  on  ac- 
count of  its  shattering,  though  it  yielded  60  to  65  bushels  per 
acre. 

The  Garton  Brothers  of  England  and  William  Farrer  of  New 
South  Wales  have  extensively  practiced  crossing  the  different 
wheat  groups.  Every  variety  and  every  intergradation  results 
from  such  crossing.  A  local  variety  may  acquire,  not  only 
rust  resistance  and  tenacity  of  chaff  by  intercrossing  with  a 
spelt  and  a  durum,  but  also  greater  fertility  of  the  head 
drawn  from  the  spelt,  and  increased  vigor  of  the  seed,  which 
produce  a  higher  yield.  These,  and  increased  hardiness  and 
gluten  content,  are  practical  results  attained  by  the  Garton 
Brothers.  William  Farrer  has  done  an  immense  amount  of  ex- 
cellent work  in  improving  Australian  wheats,  especially  as  to 
rust  resistance.  The  most  important  work  in  breeding  cereals 
on  the  continent  has  probably  been  done  by  W.  Rimpau  of 
Schlanstedt,  Germany,  though  his  work  is  not  generally  char- 
acterized by  composite  methods.  The  Vilmorins  have  also  done 
work  in  this  line.  The  Dattel,  one  of  the  most  widely  dis- 
tributed varieties  of  wheat  around  Paris,  was  originated  by 
them. 

Breeding  Experiments  have  been  carried  on  in  the  Kansas 
wheat  belt  for  some  years,  and  extensive  co-operative  work  in 
this  line  has  been  taken  up  with  the  experiment  stations  in 
different  wheat  growing  states,  particularly  in  Texas,  Kansas, 
South  Dakota,  Minnesota  and  Maryland.  Efforts  are  being 
made  to  secure  a  variety  that  will  ripen  a  few  days  earlier, 
so  that  by  sowing  two  varieties  the  harvest  period  can  be 
lengthened,  and  the  danger  of  green  cutting  and  shattering  be 
avoided.  Wheat  and  rye  have  been  successfully  hybridized 
by  a  number  of  experimenters,  but  as  yet  with  no  valuable 
results. 

Experience  has  taught  that  the  most  successful  and  practi- 
cal way  to  fight  disease  is  to  aid  natural  selection  in  producing 
disease-resistant  or  immune  plants,  rather  than  to  attempt  to 


46  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEA 

cure  the  disease.  "As  a  foundation  for  rational  wheat  im- 
provement, a  knowledge  is  required  of  the  characteristics  and 
needs  of  different  wheat  districts,  and  the  characteristic  quali- 
ties of  the  natural  groups  of  wheats."  A  century  ago  wheat 
was  wheat,  but  now  thousands  of  varieties  have  been  bred  up 
which  thrive  best  under  the  local  conditions  for  which  they 
were  bred,  and  often  they  satisfy  conditions,  uses  and  tastes 
not  in  existence  a  century  ago.  The  entire  wheat  harvest  of 
the  world  is  being  improved.  The  value  of  this  work  in 
proportion  to  its  cost  must  appeal  to  everyone,  and  indicates 
its  permanency.  J Luther  Burbank  jmade  the  statement  that  if 
a  new  wheat  were  bred  that  would  yield  only  one  grain  more 
to  each  head,  Nature  would  produce  annually,  without  effort  or 
cost  for  man,  15,000,000  extra  bushels  of  wheat  in  the  United 
States  "alone. 

The  conclusions  of  scientists  seem  to  be  that  varieties  will 
not  wear  out  or  materially  change  if  the  same  conditions  which 
made  them  excellent  are  kept  up.  If  special  care  was  exercised 
to  produce  an  artificial  variety,  this  care  must  be  continued, 
or  it  will  deteriorate.  The  improvement  of  wheat  by  breeding 
is  no  longer  a  theory,  as  in  the  time  of  Darwin,  but  an  es- 
tablished fact. 


CHAPTER  III. 
NATURAL  ENVIRONMENT. 

The  individual  plant  is  the  complex  resultant  of  two 
forces,  heredity  and  environment.  Those  characteristics  of 
wheat  which  are  acquired  from  environmental  influences  and 
which  are  transmissible  from  generation  to  generation  of 
plants  may  be  considered  as  belonging  to  heredity,  a  subject 
fully  treated  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  natural  environ- 
ment, consisting  of  soil  and  climate,  is  a  pronounced  factor  in 
the  growth  of  wheat,  independent  of  the  artificial  modifications 
known  as  cultivation.  The  latter  subject  is  treated  in  a  later 
chapter. 

ENVIRONMENTAL  INFLUENCES. 

Soil. — There  are  mechanical  and  chemical  differences  in  soil 
that  exert  a  varying  influence  upon  the  quantity  and  quality 
of  wheat.  The  effect  upon  yield  is  more  pronounced  than  that 
upon  quality.  In  North  Dakota  39  different  samples  of  Blue 
Stem  and  Scotch  Fife  wheats  of  known  history  were  obtained 
from  farms  representing  the  varied  soils  of  the  state.  Sown 
upon  the  same  soil,  all  gave  approximately  the  same  results  in 
yield  and  quality  of  grain  and  straw.  They  also  matured  at 
the  same  date,  and  had  like  periods  of  development.  Another 
experiment  was  made  in  which  seed  raised  from  one  soil  was 
hand  picked  to  uniformity,  and  then  grown  upon  various  types 
of  North  Dakota  soil  in  different  portions  of  the  state.  The 
resulting  grain  and  straw  showed  great  variation.1  Similar 
experiments  were  made  in  Indiana2  and  Maryland8  with  prac- 
tically the  same  results. 

The  soil  has  been  a  great  factor  in  determining  the  distribu- 
tion of  wheat.  Much  of  the  wheat  of  the  United  States  is 
grown  upon  glacial  drift  soil.  There  are  two  general  types  of 
this  soil:  The  uplands,  which  are  usually  of  a  light-colored, 

1  N.  D.  Bui.  17,  pp.  89-95. 
1   Ind.    Bui.    41. 
»   Md.    Bui.    14. 


48 


THE    BOOK    OP    WHEAT 


tenacious  clay;  and  the  lowlands  and  prairies,  which  have  a 
dark,  loamy,  organic,  friable  soil.  Common  bread  wheats  are 
usually  grown  on  black  soils.  These  soils  are  not  well  adapted 
to  fall  wheat,  however,  for  it  is  apt  to  winterkill.  Durum  wheats 
thrive  best  in  alkaline  soils  rich  in  nitrogenous  matter.  Sandy 
bottom  land  is  best  adapted  to  the  production  of  soft  wheat. 
Richardson  attributed  the  low  protein  content  of  some  American 
wheat  to  a  deficiency  in  soil  nitrogen.  The  ash  of  wheat  stands 
next  to  the  gluten  in  variability,  and  the  factor  most  concerned 
in  its  variation  is  the  soil. 


DURUM   WHEAT  DISTRICTS    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES 
(By  Carleton) 

The  lined  districts  show  where  durum  wheat  will  succeed  best  and  the  dotted 
districts  where  it  may  be  grown  with  grain  of  less  quality. 

Climate. — Seasonal  differences  are  included  under  this  sub- 
ject, because  their  effects  are  the  same  in  kind  as  those  of 
climatic  differences.  Certain  climates  produce  certain  cor- 
responding characteristics  in  wheat,  regardless  of  what  the  soil 
conditions  are.  The  protein  content  of  wheat,  and  correspond- 
ingly its  moist  and  dry  gluten,  is  extremely  sensitive  to  en- 
vironment of  a  meteorological  nature.  The  starch  content  is 
also  sensitive,  but  in  an  inverse  ratio.  Climate  varies  from 


NATURAL   ENVIRONMENT  49 

year  to  year  in  any  locality,  and  it  is  well  known  that  this 
causes  corresponding  variations  in  wheat,  even  under  similar 
soil  conditions.  In  the  gluten  content  is  seen  the  first  re- 
flection of  a  change  in  environment.  The  claim  has  even  been 
made  that  a  number  of  varieties  of  wheat  grown  under  uni- 
form soil  and  meteorological  conditions  would  yield  relatively 
the  same  percentages  of  gluten,  however  much  these  might  vary 
from  the  normal.1 

Northern  grown  seed  of  spring  wheats  will  mature  plants 
earlier  than  southern-grown  seed  of  the  same  variety,  but  the 
reverse  is  true  of  fall-sown  grain,  which  ripens  earlier  from 
southern-grown  seed.2  Wheat  raised  on  the  sea  coast  develops 
special  characteristics  due,  at  least  in  part,  to  climate.  In 
southern  Russia  Arnautka  wheat  attains  its  highest  perfection 
only  when  grown  within  a  limited  area  bordering  the  Azov  sea. 
All  wheat  raised  directly  on  the  Pacific  coast  in  western  United 
States  is  soft,  damp,  dark  and  has  a  very  thick  skin.  It  shades 
off  gradually  to  that  grown  inside  of  the  coast  range  and  pro- 
tected from  the  fogs.  This  inland  grain  is  bright,  very  hard 
and  dry,  and  has  a  thin  skin. 

Regions  having  cold  winters  produce  most  of  the  world's 
wheat.  Marked  exceptions  to  this  are  California,  Egypt  and 
India.  Small,  hard,  red  grains  having  a  high  nitrogen  content 
are  usually  found  in  a  climate  characterized  by  extremes  of 
temperature  and  moisture.  Climate  and  season  both  affect  the 
length  of  the  period  of  growth.  This  has  an  important  in- 
fluence on  the  chemical  composition  of  wheat,  for  a  short  sea- 
son of  growth  raises  the  percentage  of  protein  and  lowers  that 
of  starch.  In  Canada,  a  shorter  period  of  time  is  required  for 
maturity  in  northern  latitudes.  The  growing  season  of  Winni- 
peg is  about  one  week  longer  than  that  prevailing  500  miles 
farther  north. 

It  has  been  said  that  "other  things  being  equal,  varieties 
which  have  become  acclimated  are  to  be  pref erred. "  While 
this  is  true,  it  still  leaves  us  the  case  where  other  things  are 
not  equal.  Nearly  every  climate  has  its  disadvantages  for 
wheat  growth,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  wheat  always  adapts  itself 
to  overcome  these  disadvantages.  The  greater  they  are,  the 

1  O.  Bui  129,  p.  5. 

2  Yearbook  U.   S.  Dept    Agr.,   1901,  p.  235;  S.  C.  Bui.  56,  p.  12. 


50  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

more  highly  developed  must  be  the  resisting  qualities  of  wheat 
to  overcome  them.  By  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  a 
very  detrimental  condition  in  climate  or  soil  develops  in  wheat 
a  correspondingly  great  power  of  resistance.  This  is  the 
scientific  foundation  of  the  importation  of  seed  wheat.  It 
has  been  recognized  and  taken  advantage  of  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, but  not  as  fully  as  might  have  been,  and  consequently 
this  point  will  merit  subsequent  mention.  Advantageous  im- 
portations are  well  illustrated  by  the  introduction  of  hardy  and 
drought  and  rust  resistant  varieties  from  the  cold  and  the  hot 
and  dry  parts  of  Russia  into  sections  of  the  United  States 
having  a  similar  climate.  A  low  altitude  and  an  abundance  of 
moisture  seem  to  produce  softer  wheats. 

Soil  and  Climate. — Many  characteristics  of  wheat  are  due 
to  the  combined  influences  of  soil  and  climate.  Environments 
that  differ  widely  are  characterized  by  peculiar  varieties  of 
wheat  varying  in  composition  and  physical  appearance.  Soft 
wheat  repeatedly  sown  on  heavy,  black,  upland  soil  tends  to  be- 
come hard,  while  hard  wheat  becomes  soft  after  years  of  suc- 
cessive planting  on  bottom  lands.  Experiments  have  shown 
that  the  environment  of  Colorado  affects  the  composition  of 
wheat  by  increasing  its  gluten  content  at  the  expense  of  the 
starch  content,  while  the  environments  of  Oregon,  California 
and  North  Carolina  have  the  opposite  effect.  A  study  of  the 
map1  showing  wheat  districts  will  show  the  general  effects  of 
climate  and  soil  in  the  United  States.  Broadly  speaking,  the 
hard,  red  wheats  are  found  in  the  central,  elevated  plains,  and 
the  grain  becomes  softer  and  of  lighter  color  as  either  ocean 
is  approached.  American,  Russian  and  Algerian  wheats  have 
about  12  per  cent  of  moisture,  while  those  of  Europe  have  about 
14  per  cent.2  As  early  as  1884  it  was  determined  by  chemical 
analyses  that  the  wheats  of  the  Pacific  coast  in  the  United 
States  have  a  smaller  percentage  of  albuminoids  than  those  of 
the  rest  of  the  country.  In  recent  years  there  has  also  been  a 
gradual  deterioration  in  the  gluten  content  of  North  Dakota 
wheats.  The  attention  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  was 
called  to  these  deteriorations,  which  are  due  to  the  combined 
effects  of  soil  and  climate,  and  extensive  experiments  were 
carried  on  to  determine  the  exact  causes  and  afford  relief. 

1  See  p.  9. 

2  Girard  &  Lindet,  Le  Froment  et  sa  Mouture,  pp.  86-93. 


NATURAL  ENVIRONMENT  51 

Wheats  are  easily  changed  as  to  the  season  in  which  they  are 
sown,  the  winter  to  spring  and  the  spring  to  winter  varieties. 
The  change  is  most  readily  effected  in  warm,  arid  climates, 
where  irrigation  is  practically  the  sole  source  of  moisture.  It 
can  also  be  accomplished  by  sowing  the  winter  wheats  later 
and  the  spring  wheats  earlier  each  season.  Winter  wheat  may 
be  sown  in  spring  and  spring  wheat  in  the  fall.  Only  a  very 
few  plants  will  ripen  seed,  but  when  this  is  continuously  sown, 
in  three  years  the  spring  variety  will  be  changed  to  the  winter, 
and  vice  versa.  In  1857  Klippart  wrote  that  red  bearded 
wheat  could  be  changed  to  white,  smooth  wheat,  and  vice  versa. 
Kubanka,  a  yellowish-white  spring  wheat,  found  in  its  perfec- 
tion east  of  the  Volga  on  the  Siberian  border,  developed  into 
a  red  winter  wheat  in  the  Caucasus.1  Red  wheat  is  usually 
more  hardy  than  white  wheat,  while  bald  wheat  is  usually  not 
so  well  adapted  to  a  hot,  dry  climate  or  alkali  soil  as  bearded 
wheat.  When  seed  from  irrigated  soft  wheat  has  been  plant- 
ed without  irrigation,  it  has  been  known  to  harden  remarkably 
in  a  single  year. 

HEREDITARY   INFLUENCES. 

Seed  Wheat — In  each  kernel  of  wheat  are  embodied  the 
latent  possibilities  of  its  future  development.  Consequently,  it 
is  very  important  to  select  the  seed  which  will  bring  the  best 
results  possible  in  the  environment  under  which  it  must  be 
grown.  A  knowledge  of  the  importance  of  good  seed  wheat, 
and  of  the  principles  of  its  development,  does  not  eliminate  all 
of  the  practical  difficulties  involved  in  securing  good  seed.  Fre- 
quently the  grower  is  so  situated  that  he  must  purchase  his 
seed,  and  he  should  not  follow  the  common  practice  of  waiting 
to  do  this  until  the  sowing  season  has  arrived.  It  is  then  too 
late  to  ascertain  the  origin  and  history  of  the  grain,  or  even 
to  test  its  vitality.  The  speculative  markets  do  not  trade  in 
seed  wheat,  and  they  are  not  a  factor  in  determining  its  price. 
The  great  bulk  of  seed  wheat  does  not  move  far,  but  is  grown 
in  the  locality  where  it  is  to  be  used.  Good  seed  of  any  of  the 
different  classes  of  wheat  may  generally  be  procured  from  the 
section  in  which  that  class  is  most  commonly  grown.  For  ex- 
ample, Turkey  Red  wheat  should  be  bought  in  Kansas,  Ne- 
1  Carleton,  Macaroni  Wheats,  p.  11. 


WHEAT  PLANTS  FROM  GOOD  AND  POOR  SEED 


NATURAL  ENVIRONMENT  5ci 

braska  or  Iowa;  Sonora  wheat  in  California;  and  hard  spring 
wheats  in  the  Dakotas  or  Minnesota. 

Dealers  in  seed  may  be  divided  into  three  classes  according 
to  the  methods  which  they  pursue.  One  class  buys  seed  in 
the  open  market  and  sells  it  as  that  variety  for  which  it  was 
bought.  Such  dealers  should  be  required  either  to  improve 
their  methods  or  to  seek  a  new  occupation,  for  usually  the  most 
advantageous  disposition  that  can  be  made  of  their  seed  is 
at  the  nearest  grist  mill.  Another  class  buys  by  sample  in  the 
open  market,  using  all  care  possible  under  the  circumstances  to 
secure  correctly  named  seed  of  good  quality.  They  make  germi- 
nation tests,  reclean  the  seed  if  necessary,  remove  light  and  in- 
jured seeds,  and  offer  for  sale  only  those  which  are  good  and 
sound.  There  is  a  small  class  of  dealers  each  of  whom  makes 
a  specialty  of  some  variety  which  he  has  grown  under  con- 
tract. Two  points  of  great  importance  in  regard  to  their  seed 
is  that  it  is  usually  of  the  highest  quality  and  almost  always 
true  to  name.  The  grower,  in  looking  for  a  wheat  with  the 
proper  origin  and  history,  should  have  a  knowledge  of  the  main 
facts  and  laws  set  forth  in  this  and  the  previous  chapter,  and 
should  select  seed  according  to  the  needs  of  his  environment. 
He  should  buy  by  sample  in  the  fall  or  winter  before  sowing. 
Its  purity  he  can  have  determined,  and  a  simple  home  germinat- 
ing test  will  give  its  capacity  in  germination.  Many  farmers 
may  not  yet  be  able  thus  to  procure  intelligently  the  seed  best 
suited  to  their  environment,  but  they  have  a  number  of  insti- 
tutions at  their  command  whose  business  it  is  to  dispense  in- 
formation of  exactly  this  nature.  Some  experimentation  must 
always  be  engaged  in. 

It  is  only  within  a  few  years  that  the  quality  of  commercial 
seeds  has  been  subjected  to  any  tests  other  than  those  made 
by  the  reliable  seed  firms.  This  shows  a  great  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion of  one  of  the  essential  factors  of  agriculture.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  and  unaccountable  facts  in  connection 
with  the  development  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture that  it  spent  a  neat  fortune  in  distributing  seeds  for 
over  a  half  century,  and  never  once  tested  the  quality  of  the 
seeds  sent  out.  In  1895,  "for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  department  did  its  authorities  know  the  real  quality  of 
the  seeds  they  had  distributed. ' ' 

1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1897,  p   94. 


54  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

There  are  no  statistics  to  show  how  great  is  the  loss  result- 
ing from  the  impositions  of  unreliable  seed  firms,  but  it  must  be 
millions  of  dollars.  The  loss  from  sowing  poor  seed  grown  on 
the  farm  is  also  great.  Frequently,  especially  among  the  uned- 
ucated classes,  any  wheat  which  is  injured  too  badly  for  market 
purposes,  either  by  such  diseases  as  smut,  or  by  improper  har- 
vesting or  storing,  is  used  for  seed  purposes.  Many  experi- 
ments with  immature  seed  wheat  have  been  made.  While  its 
germinating  powers  may  be  greater,  the  conclusion  is  that 
smaller  and  less  vigorous  plants  are  produced,  resulting  in  a 
lower  yield.1 

It  is  very  questionable  whether  wheat  frozen  in  ripening,  or 
burned  in  the  stack  or  bin,  can  be  safely  used  for  seed.  It 
certainly  should  not  be  sown  if  badly  affected,  and  the  only 
way  to  determine  its  value  is  by  a  germination  test.  A  low 
germinating  power  often  means  a  lack  in  quality  as  well  as  in 
quantity,  which  makes  the  use  of  such  seed  very  hazardous. 

Whether  seed  will  "run  out,"  and  whether  it  is  profitable 
occasionally  to  "change  seed"  or  not,  has  long  been  a  mooted 
question.  A  change  of  seed,  especially  if  the  change  is  be- 
tween very  distant  sections,  is  almost  invariably  accompanied 
by  some  disadvantages.  If  it  is  merely  a  promiscuous  exchange, 
as  is  so  often  the  case,  it  is  very  likely  that  the  disadvantages 
will  greatly  outweigh  the  advantages.  The  principles  above 
pointed  out  throw  some  light  on  this  question  and  show  that 
there  is  one  case  in  which  a  change  of  seed  is  advantageous, 
namely,  from  an  environment  unfavorable  in  certain  conditions 
to  one  more  favorable  in  these  same  conditions  and  having  no 
new  disadvantages  which  counterbalance  the  good  results.  It 
is  obvious  that  if  the  transfer  is  from  a  favorable  to  an  un- 
favorable environment,  the  wheat  must,  by  a  selective  process, 
adapt  itself  to  the  new  conditions  before  it  can  yield  as  much 
as  that  which  is  already  adapted.  This,  of  course,  has  refer- 
ence only  to  the  one  variety  which  is  under  consideration. 
There  are  also  other  considerations,  however.  In  the  first  place, 
the  custom  of  changing  seed  is  a  costly  one  in  actual  expendi- 
ture of  cash.  Farmers  purchase  annually  many  thousands  of 
bushels  of  seed  wheat,  paying  fancy  prices  and  freightage 

1  Kept.  N.  D.  Agr.  Col.,  1902,  p.  32;  Yearbook  U.  S.  Pept.  Agr., 
1896,  p.  306. 


NATURAL   ENVIRONMENT  55 

from  distant  points,  and  also  paying  duty  on  foreign  varieties. 
Then,  too,  injudicious  seed  exchange  is  a  source  of  weed  and 
disease  dissemination,  as  well  as  a  powerful  influence  against 
proper  methods  of  plant  breeding.  Selection  cannot  be  suc- 
cessfully practiced  in  improving  the  quality  of  grain  if  the 
seed  must  be  given  up  every  few  years  for  a  strain  grown  upon 
other  land. 

Nothing  has  been  found  in  the  principles  of  wheat  de- 
velopment which  would  indicate  that  wheat  "runs  out,"  or 
deteriorates,  if  continually  grown  on  the  same  farm  under 
rational  methods  of  culture.  Undoubtedly,  any  seed  may  de- 
teriorate because  of  injuries  arising  from  disease,  improper 
cultivation  or  selection  of  seed,  or  from  many  other  causes 
which  militate  against  the  production  of  a  normal  type  of 
kernel.  Grass  wheat  formerly  grown  in  Kansas  is  a  case  in 
point.  Experiments  at  different  stations  have  shown  that  seed 
may  be  sown  on  the  same  land  for  many  years,  and  yet  give  no 
appearance  of  running  out.1 

The  idea  that  a  change  in  seed  gives  good  results  has  always 
been  founded  more  upon  opinion  than  upon  well  ascertained 
facts.  It  was  doubtless  first  advanced  by  Columella  shortly 
after  the  Christian  era,  and  has  been  widely  held  ever  since. 
The  most  striking  argument  in  favor  of  the  idea  is  put  forth  by 
Darwin,  who  reasons  that  since  a  change  of  residence  is  of 
undoubted  benefit  to  convalescents,  it  may  be  that  a  change  of 
soil  is  advantageous  for  wheat.  This  is  only  reasoning  by 
analogy,  however,  and  involves  the  comparison  of  abnormal 
animal  life  with  normal  plant  life,  certainly  not  a  strong  argu- 
ment at  best.  Some  good  authorities  still  hold  that  wheat  will 
run  out  if  sown  continually  on  the  same  land.2  A  great  and 
preponderating  amount  of  evidence  has  accumulated,  however, 
to  show  that  farmers  should  rely  chiefly  upon  locally  developed 
seed,  and  that  they  should  give  more  attention  to  the  produc- 
tion of  their  own  seed.  The  importation  of  seed  is  profitable 
only  when  differences  in  the  rigors  of  soil  and  climate  exist. 
Such  importations  have  greatly  improved  the  standard  of 
American  wheats  and  have  also  extended  the  industry  of  rais- 
ing them.  Foreign  wheats  are  one  of  the  most  important  fac- 

1  N.   D.  Bui.   17,  p.  98. 

2  Saunders,  Evidence  1903,  p.   46;  Kept.  Kans.   State  Bel.  Agr.. 
Vol.  21,  No,  81,  p.  7. 


56  THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

tors  in  hybridization,  supplying  precisely  those  qualities  in 
which  American  wheat  is  deficient. 

So  far  the  most  valuable  importations  have  been  made  from 
Russia.  The  now  world  famous  red  winter  wheat  grown  in 
the  section  of  which  Kansas  is  the  center  was  originally  im- 
ported by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  from  the  Crimea  in 
Russia.  So  successful  has  it  proved  that  in  1901  Kansas  grow- 
ers individually  imported  over  15,000  bushels  of  this  variety 
for  seed.  Its  superiority  consists  in  higher  yield,  hardiness  to 
winter  cold,  better  milling  qualities  and  great  rust  resistance. 
Four  or  five  winter  varieties  obtained  from  eastern  and  south- 
ern Russia,  were  tested  by  the  department  in  1901  and  1902. 
They  were  much  hardier  than  any  varieties  grown  in  this 
country,  and  extended  the  winter  wheat  area  farther  north  and 
west.  The  better  Russian  varieties  are  late  in  maturing,  while, 
as  a  rule,  Japanese  sorts  are  early.  Hybrids  from  the  two  ripen 
early  and  possess  the  good  qualities  of  the  hardy  Russian  sorts. 

Drought-Resisting  Durum  varieties  adapted  to  alkali  soils 
have  been  introduced  from  Russia.  They  have  proved  them- 
selves admirably  suited  to  the  region  west  of  the  100th  meridian, 
from  Texas  to  Dakota,  where  wheat  growing  was  supposed  to 
be  practically  impossible.  The  area  on  which  they  may  be 
grown  is  shown  on  the  accompanying  map.1 

Some  Hungarian  wheats  have  also  been  introduced,  as  well 
as  white  wheats  from  Australia,  Europe  and  the  Orient,  to  ob- 
tain a  higher  grade  of  wheat  with  which  to  replace  the  de- 
teriorating white  wheat  of  California.  The  Weissenburg,  a 
very  promising  variety  from  Hungary,  is  the  source  of  the  flour 
that  sells  on  the  Liverpool  market  for  $1.00  more  per  barrel 
than  any  other  flour. 

The  introduction  of  spelt  and  emmer  must  also  be  mentioned 
here,  both  for  a  crop  and  for  hybridizing  wheats.  In  all  this 
work  of  introducing  and  breeding  wheat,  disease  resistance  is 
kept  in  mind,  and  some  sorts  remarkably  free  from  rust  have 
been  procured.  There  are  two  needs  which  are  common  to  the 
whole  country.  Greater  yielding  power  is,  of  course,  always 
desirable,  and  for  one  reason  or  another,  the  same  is  also  quite 
generally  true  of  earlier  maturity,  whether  it  is  to  escape 
drought,  rust,  insects  or  frost.  The  new  environment  may 
»  See  p.  48. 


NATURAL  ENVIRONMENT  57 

cause  changes  in  the  imported  variety,  and  it  may  require  sev- 
eral years  to  determine  its  merits. 

Instead  of  scientific  agriculture  having  "almost  reached  the 
limit  of  its  development, "  it  has  just  fairly  begun  to  develop. 
This  statement  is  especially  applicable  to  the  careful  selection 
of  seed.  "In  Germany,  where  the  percentage  of  sugar  in 
sugar  beets  is  high,  they  deem  it  necessary  to  adopt  the  follow- 
ing plan  to  improve  the  standard.  Ten  thousand  beets  say,  all 
perfect,  are  selected  from  a  field  where  the  choicest  strain  was 
sown  and  carefully  tended.  A  small  section  is  taken  from  each 
beet  and  tested  to  determine  the  percentage  of  sugar  it  con- 
tains. The  hundred  beets  of  the  highest  quality  are  selected 
and  planted  the  next  season  for  seed.  The  seed  from  these,  is, 
of  course,  very  valuable,  representing  hundreds  of  dollars 
worth  of  work,  and  it  is  used  simply  for  growing  seed  beets. 
From  the  seed  beets  thus  grown  only  one  hundred  of  the  best 
are  again  selected  as  stock  to  grow  seed  beets  from,  while  the 
rest  of  the  10,000,  though  grown  from  the  same  strain  of  seed, 
are  considered  only  good  enough  for  growing  seed  for  the  man 
who  raises  sugar,  and  not  sugar  beet  seed."  Seed  which  is 
good  enough  for  growing  beets  for  seed  is  considered  much  too 
valuable  to  use  in  growing  beets  for  sugar.  The  beet  grower 
has  made  more  progress  in  this  respect  in  one  century  than 
the  wheat  grower  has  in  many  centuries.  It  should,  neverthe- 
less, be  said  that  the  improvement  in  beets  was  partly  the  un- 
foreseen result  of  European  legislation.  By  a  peculiar  tax, 
whatever  sugar  above  a  certain  per  cent  was  extracted  from 
beets  paid  no  tax,  or  a  smaller  rate.  To  increase  profits  by  in- 
creasing this  excess  proved  such  an  additional  stimulus  to 
improve  the  sugar  content  of  beets  that  the  legislators  appar- 
ently could  not  modify  the  laws  fast  enough  to  keep  pace  with 
the  advance.2 

While  the  past  importance  of  introducing  new  varieties  is 
conceded,  it  is  said  that  "the  time  will  soon  arrive  when  there 
will  be  no  further  varieties  to  introduce  better  than  we  already 
have."  Unquestionably,  the  breeding  of  wheat  will  have  an  in- 
creasing importance.  As  wheats  may  be  developed,  so  they 
may  deteriorate,  on  account  of  soil  and  climate,  and  in  such 
cases  there  must  perhaps  be  a  periodical  importation  of  seed. 

'Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Grow.  Ass'n,  1900,    p.    170. 

2  Handworterbuch    der    Staatswissenschaften,    7:997-1009. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
CULTIVATION  OF  WHEAT 

SOIL  PREPARATION 

The  cultivation  of  wheat  is  coeval  with  agriculture  itself.  No 
land  was  alone  the  ground  of  Ceres  where  the  human  race 
learned  to  plow  and  sow,  nor  was  it  the  task  of  any  one  race 
or  nation  to  tutor  mankind  in  the  agricultural  arts.  How  the 
nations  of  antiquity  tilled,  sowed  and  reaped  would  be  of  great 
interest,  but  the  records  which  time  has  bequeathed  to  us  are 
all  but  silent  upon  these  homely  topics. 

Climatic  Effects. — The  soil  in  nature  is  more  uniformly  cov- 
ered with  vegetation  throughout  the  year  than  it  is  under 
cultivation.  Dark,  exposed  soil  absorbs  more  heat  than  soil 
covered  with  vegetation.  Thus  cultivation  is  supposed  to  mod- 
erate climate  and  there  is  a  widely  prevalent  opinion  that  it 
also  lessens  frosts,  humidity  and  rainfall. 

Plant  and  Soil  Effects. — Soil  alterations  of  the  highest  im- 
portance are  made  by  means  of  tillage,  fertilizing  and  irriga- 
tion. The  resulting  variations  in  wheat  are  quantitative  rather 
than  qualitative,  except  in  the  case  of  irrigation,  which  is 
practiced  on  a  comparatively  small  part  of  the  wheat  area. 
This  process  and  that  of  fertilizing  are  discussed  in  later  chap- 
ters. Cultivation,  as  here  used,  refers  only  to  the  mechanical 
operations  connected  with  raising  wheat  in  the  natural  environ- 
ment treated  in  the  previous  chapter.  It  renders  this  natural 
environment  artificial  to  the  degree  in  which  it  alters  the  me- 
chanical arrangement  of  the  soil  in  nature  and  eliminates  from 
the  competition  of  life  other  species  of  plants  which  would 
naturally  compete  with  wheat  in  the  struggle  for  obtaining  the 
sustenance  held  by  soil  and  atmosphere.  This  sets  the 
wheat  plant  free  from  many  natural  conditions  which  tend  to 
destroy  unfit  variations  and  to  force  wheat  to  assume  one 
type.  Thus  cultivation,  while  it  has  no  direct  influence  in  in- 
creasing variation,  by  removing  conditions  which  exert  a  se- 
lective influence,  is  indirectly  the  means  by  which  a  greater 


CULTIVATION  OF  WHEAT  59 

number  of  variations  survive.    In  cultivation  itself,  as  above 
defined,  there  is  no  selection. 

The  principal  effect  of  cultivation  on  the  growth  of  wheat  is 
through  its  influence  upon  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil,  to 
which  great  importance  is  attached.  By  physical  condition,  is 
meant  friability  or  openness,  capacity  for  absorbing  and  retain- 
ing water  and  heat,  and  permeability  to  roots.  Air,  which 
is  necessary  to  the  roots,  is  excluded  by  hard,  water-soaked, 
baked  or  puddled  soils,  and  such  soils  are  also  impermeable  to 
roots.  Stirring  or  cultivating  the  soil  enables  the  air  to  cir- 
culate and  the  roots  to  penetrate  through  it.  Tillage  has  been 
known  to  increase  the  yield  of  wheat  over  eight  bushels  per 
acre.1  Richardson  claimed  that  it  increased  the  nitrogen  con- 
tent of  wheat.  Generally  about  50  per  cent  of  the  volume  of 
soils  is  empty  space.  That  is,  in  one  cubic  foot  of  soil  there  is 
about  a  half  a  cubic  foot  of  space  into  which  air  and  water  can 
enter. 

The  Motor  Power  first  utilized  was  the  muscular  energy  of 
man  himself.  Its  application  requires  the  least  intelligence. 
The  abundance  of  human  labor,  and  hence  its  cheapness, 
coupled  with  a  lack  of  intelligence  to  utilize  other  forces,  are 
conditions  still  existing  in  vast  regions  of  the  earth  where  it  is 
impossible  for  any  other  motor  power  to  compete  successfully 
with  man  himself.  India,  largely  using  human  labor,  often 
at  a  cost  of  but  4  to  8  cents  per  day,  has  been  so  successful  in 
competing  with  more  civilized  nations  using  other  forms  of 
power  as  to  assume  fourth  rank  among  the  wheat  raising  na- 
tions, and  to  be  able  to  undersell  many  of  them  in  the  world 
markets.  Hand  labor  is  used  almost  exclusively  in  raising  wheat 
in  China,  Japan,  Siam,  Syria  and  Colombia,  and  very  exten- 
sively in  Egypt  and  parts  of  Greece,  Spain,  Mexico,  and  some 
of  the  South  American  republics.2  4 

Animal  Power. — The  first  one  of  the  forces  of  nature  which 
man  subdued  and  utilized  in  relieving  himself  of .  some  of  the 
drudgeries  incidental  to  agriculture  was  that  of  the  domesti- 
cated beast.  There  are  no  marked  periods  of  progress  in  this. 
Animal  power  is  by  far  the  most  universally  used  in  agricul- 
tural operations.  As  a  rule,  oxen  are  found  in  communities 

1  s.  c.  Bui.  56,  p.  12. 

2  U.  S.  Daily  Consular  Repts.,  Oct.  to  Dec.,  1903. 


CULTIVATION   OF  WHEAT  61 

less  developed  agriculturally  and  horses  in  the  more  developed 
ones.  For  example,  oxen  were  preferred  to  horses  in  England 
from  1250  to  1650. 

Steam. — After  nearly  two  centuries  of  projection  and  in- 
vention, steam  was  successfully  used  for  agricultural  oper- 
ations in  England  in  1832.  The  system  adopted  was  that  of 
dragging  the  implements  by  the  aid  of  pulleys  and  a  cable  re- 
volyed  by  a  stationary  steam  engine.  This  method  in  improved 
form  is  still  found  in  Europe.  The  movable  engine  appeared 
before  1850.  In  the  United  States,  activity  in  the  invention 
of  steam  plows  began  in  1.861,  and  it  was  perhaps  entirely  con- 
fined to  the  use  of  the  traction  engine.  On  the  Pacific  coast, 
steam  is  used  quite  extensively  in  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  es- 
pecially on  the  larger  farms.  In  Germany  and  Hungary  there 
was  about  one  steam  plow  to  every  10  small  plows  in  1900. 
There  have  also  been  experiments  with  electricity  as  a  motor 
power  in  agriculture. 

Plowing. — The  first  plow  was  simply  a  "sharpened  piece  of 
wood  or  the  crotched  limb  of  a  tree,"  and  was  evolved  from 
the  hoe.  Some  of  the  earliest  plows  were  drawn  by  two  men, 
while  two  others  kept  them  in  the  ground.  The  form  represent- 
ed on  Egyptian  monuments  (3,000  B.  C.)  is  an  improvement 
on  the  hooked  stick.  Chinese  historians  say  that  the  first  plows 
in  China  were  made  2,737  B.  C.  The  plow  described  by  Homer 
was  a  composite  piece  drawn  by  oxen  or  mules.  The  early 
Romans  had  no  cast  steel  or  iron,  and  their  implement  was  es- 
sentially like  that  of  the  Germans.  The  first  use  of  metal  on  a 
plow  is  unknown,  but  before  the  time  of  Christ  the  Romans 
yoked  the  steer  to  one  with  a  "shining  share."  The  ancient 
Egyptians  and  Assyrians  had  plows  pointed  or  edged  with  iron. 
These  primitive  implements  turned  no  furrow,  but  simply 
stirred  the  ground.  Those  of  the  Greeks  2,000  years  ago  had 
wheels  supporting  the  beams,  and  similar  forms  are  found 
depicted  in  Saxon  manuscripts. 

The  rude  primitive  plow  seems  to  have  been  almost  univer- 
sally the  first  agricultural  implement  drawn  by  beasts  of  bur- 
den. The  constancy  of  the  type  among  different  peoples  is 
remarkable.  Under  uncivilized  or  frontier  conditions  it  nearly 
always  appears,  and  its  persistence  is  very  great.  In  the 
United  States  plows  were  worked  in  Virginia  as  early  as  1617. 


62  $HE  BOOK:  01*  WHEAT 


Twelve  years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  the  farmers 
about  Boston  had  no  plows.  The  first  ones  used  by  French 
settlers  in  Illinois  were  of  wood  with  a  small  point  of  iron  tied 
on  with  straps  of  rawhide.  The  oxen  were  yoked  to  them  by 
the  horns.  This  method  of  hitching  was  rivaled  only  in 
Saxony  and  Ireland,  where  the  horses  were  fastened  to  the 
plow  with  their  tails.  An  attempt  was  made  to  abolish  this 
practice  in  Ireland  by  act  of  Parliament  in  1634.  Arthur 
Young  (1741-1820)  mentioned  it  in  his  time,  however,  and 
Gibbons  maintained  that  it  was  still  to  be  found  in  remote 
parts  of  Ireland  as  late  as  1896. 

In  England,  from  one  to  eight  oxen  were  used  in  the  eleventh 
century,  while  four  horses  or  oxen  were  usual  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  first  plow  in  California  (about  1835)  was 
a  crooked  branch  with  an  iron  toe.  On  the  whole,  the  American 
form  before  1767  was  practically  the  same  as  that  used  by  the 
Romans  before  the  Christian  era,  and  this  type  was  still  found 
in  Europe  in  1867.  It  was  the  only  agricultural  implement  of 
France  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  of  Sicily  in  1863.  In 
southern  Greece  many  plows  similar  to  those  of  the  age  of 
Pericles  (450  B.  C.)  are  still  being  used.  Many  of  those  in 
Russia  are  equally  primitive,  while  the  Spanish,  South  French 
and  Italian  forms  resemble  the  Roman  type. 

There  was  little  improvement  in  the  plow  during  the  middle 
ages,  perhaps  largely  on  account  of  legislative  restraint.  Many 
popular  prejudices  also  existed.  In  England,  for  example,  after 
the  farmers  hr.d  experimented  with  iron  plows  of  good  con- 
struction, they  concluded  that  the  iron  made  the  weeds  grow; 
and  in  America  iron  plows  were  supposed  to  poison  the  soil 
and  to  prevent  the  growth  of  crops.  It  was  not  until  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century  that  plows  began  to  be  improved. 
The  moldboard  was  then  made  of  iron  and  steel  and  given  its 
proper  form.  While  the  plow  was  always  essentially  a  wedge- 
shaped  instrument  forced  through  the  soil  to  loosen  it,  these 
improvements  perfected  it  so  that  the  draft  was  reduced  by 
one-third  and  the  implement  was  also  much  more  complete  in 
its  operation  on  the  topsoil,  which  it  gradually  loosened,  raised 
and  completely  turned  over  to  one  side.  Coulters  were  known 
in  England  at  least  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century.  Fitzher- 
bert  writes  of  different  kinds  of  plows  for  different  soils  in 


CULTIVATION   0#  WHEAT  63 

1534.  The  date  of  the  first  English  patent  on  this  implement 
is  1720.  The  cast  iron  plow  was  first  patented  in  the  United 
States  in  1797.  A  patent  on  an  adjustable  cast  iron  point  in 
1818  marks  the  introduction  of  the  most  useful  economy  in 
plow  manufacture,  the  interchangeability  of  parts. 

Modern  Plows  are  practically  the  same  in  principle  as 
those  described  above.  The  only  improvements  which  have 
been  made  are  in  minor  details.  The  draft  and  friction  have 
been  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  forms  have  been  invented 
which  are  best  suited  for  different  types  of  soil  and  for  the 
application  of  different  kinds  of  motor  power.  The  common 
hand  plow  is  undoubtedly  most  widely  used,  and  the  small  farm 
rarely  ever  has  any  other.  It  is  drawn  by  two  horses.  Another 
widely  used  form  is  the  sulky  plow,  having  two  wheels  to  carry 
the  beams,  and  a  seat  for  the  driver.  Two  or  three  horses  are 
required.  The  acreage  covered  depends  on  the  condition  of 
the  soil,  and  varies  from  one  to  two  acres  per  day.1  These  are 
the  common  forms  used  by  all  the  large  wheat  raising  coun- 
tries. Another  common  type  used  on  large  farms  is  the  gang 
plow,  drawn  by  horses  or  steam.  This  is  merely  a  number  of 
common  plows  combined  in  one  frame.  A  usual  plow  in  the 
Red  river  valley  is  a  gang  cutting  16  inches  in  two  furrows, 
drawn  by  five  horses  and  turning  250  acres  in  from  four  to  six 
weeks.  Steam  is  not  used,  as  mud  was  found  to  cut  out  the 
plow  bearings  when  it  was  wet,  and  the  expense  of  keeping 
horses  is  necessitated  by  other  farming  operations.  In  some 
parts  of  California,  plows  are  set  in  gangs  of  as  many  as  14. 
They  are  drawn  by  eight  mules,  and  plow  three  inches  deep 
at  the  rate  of  10  or  15  acres  per  day.  A  traction  engine  with 
large  gangs  of  plows  or  discs  is  often  used  on  the  larger  farms, 
accomplishing  an  enormous  amount  of  work  in  a  little  time. 

Special  forms  of  plows  adapted  to  the  use  of  a  stationary 
engine  have  been  evolved  in  Europe.  The  Fowler  plow  is  per- 
haps the  best  known  and  most  effective  of  these.  It  consists 
practically  of  eight  turnover  plows  yoked  together,  and  is 
capable  of  plowing  40  acres  of  land  a  day  and  accommodating 
itself  to  the  mcst  uneven  ground.  The  electric  plow  of  Austria 
is  also  worthy  of  mention. 

Time  of  Plowing. — In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  in  the 
spring  wheat  area  of  the  United  States,  fall  plowing  slightly 


CULTIVATION   OF  WHEAT  65 

Increases  the  yield,  is  most  destructive  to  weeds  and  insects, 
and  is  the  most  economical  in  farm  management.  For  winter 
wheat,  the  ground  is  plowed  as  soon  after  harvest  as  is  practi- 
cable. This  destroys  the  weeds  before  they  ripen  their  seed 
and  gives  time  for  a  compact  seedbed.  The  pulverized  surface 
soil  more  readily  retains  and  absorbs  moisture,  upon  which, 
in  the  absence  of  vegetation,  no  demands  are  made  by  growth. 
The  depth  of  plowing  should  vary  with  the  climate  and  with 
the  nature  of  the  soil  and  the  subsoil.  The  limits  of  the  va- 
riations usually  found  advantageous  are  between  four  and 
eight  inches  in  depth. 

Subsoiling. — As  the  common  plow  is  in  effect  a  wedge  pass- 
ing through  the  soil  on  a  horizontal  plane,  the  uppermost  layer 
of  the  subsoil  is  compacted  at  each  plowing.  This  renders  the 
subsoil  more  impervious  to  water  and  roots.  Subsoiling  con- 
sists in  breaking  up  the  subsoil,  and  does  not  necessarily  in- 
volve changing  the  relative  positions  of  subsoil  and  topsoil. 
Judged  by  experiment  station  results,  it  does  not  seem  to  be  an 
economical  operation. 

The  Seed  Bed. — Soil,  on  account  of  its  fine  texture  or  wet 
condition,  may  be  lumpy  after  plowing.  The  spaces  in  it  are 
then  very  irregular  in  size,  and  the  sort  is  in  a  poor  condition 
to  draw  up  water  from  below,  or  to  furnish  uniform  germinat- 
ing conditions  for  the  seed.  In  such  cases  it  is  customary  and 
advisable  to  work  the  soil  with  a  harrow,  roll,  or  other  im- 
plement until  the  larger  lumps  are  broken  and  the  surface  be- 
comes smooth  and  even.  The  seed  bed  is  then  ready  for  the 
sowing.  Thorough  preparation  conserves  the  moisture,  dimin- 
ishes winterkilling,  and  increases  the  yield.  In  both  the 
spring  and  winter  wheat  districts  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  it 
is  a  general  practice  to  sow  without  plowing  on  land  that  has 
produced  corn  the  preceding  year.  In  the  case  of  winter 
wheat,  the  grain  may  simply  be  drilled  between  the  rows  of 
co*rn,  with  a  five-hoe  drill;  or  the  seedbed  may  first  be  prepared 
with  a  disc  or  tooth  harrow.  Corn  ground  for  spring  wheat 
also  is  often  prepared  by  using  an  implement  of  the  disc  har- 
row type. 

SEEDING. 

Sowing. — There  are  three  methods  of  sowing  wheat:  Broad- 
casting, which  scatters  the  seed  evenly  over  the  ground;  drill- 


66  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

ing,  which  places  it  in  rows;  and  dibbling,  in  which  a  certain 
number  of  grains  are  dropped  in  each  hill  by  means  of  a 
dibbling  iron.  Diverse  means  have  been  employed  in  each 
method.  Dibbling,  once  quite  extensively  practiced  in  England, 
is  never  found  now,  unless  it  is  with  the  experimenter.  Na- 
ture's method,  broadcasting,  was  also  the  first  method  of  artij 
ficial  seeding.  The  seed  was  simply  scattered  by  -hand.  Of  the 
three  ways,  drilling  is  now  recognized  as  the  most  advan- 
tageous. The  conclusion  from  station  experiments  is  that  the 
increase  in  yield  will  amply  pay  for  any  extra  cost  involved  in 
drilling.1  Less  seed  is  required,  for  the  wheat  is  more  uni- 
formly distributed  and  covered.  If  it  is  sown  at  an  even  depth 
in  moist  soil,  quick  germination  results.  This  places  weeds  at 
a  disadvantage,  especially  in  spring  wheat.  Drilling  also  de- 
creases the  danger  from  drought,  winterkilling,  and  the  blow- 
ing of  soil  by  the  winds.  The  snow  lodged  in  the  furrows  left 
by  the  drill  affords  protection  and  moisture. 

Seeders. — After  hand  sowing  came  the  seeder,  which  accom- 
plished the  same  results  mechanically.  Such  machines  are  by 
no  means  modern,  though  in  England  and  Germany  they  can 
be  traced  only  to  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  ancient  Chinese,  Persians,  Hindoos  and  Romans  used  them, 
as  well  as  the  drill,  which  was  doubtless  the  next  seeding  ma- 
chine to  be  invented.  Ardrey  maintains  that  the  first  histori- 
cal knowledge  of  a  seeder  pertains  to  an  Assyrian  drill  used 
many  centuries  before  Christ.  The  Egyptians  of  3000  B.  C. 
sowed  by  hand,  the  method  still  widely  followed  all  over  the 
world  where  the  farms  are  very  small,  or  where  the  standard  of 
farming  is  not  high,  as,  for  example,  among  the  lower  classes 
of  Russian  peasantry.  In  early  England  the  wheat  was  sown 
into  the  plow  furrow,  often  by  a  mere  child,  who  carried  a  bag 
or  wooden  hopper  (known  as  a  seedlip  or  seedcod)  full  of  grain 
in  front  of  the  horses  or  oxen  drawing  the  plow.  The  same 
practice  prevails  in  east  central  India,  a  woman  taking  the 
place  of  the  child.  By  another  method  in  India,  the  seed  is 
thrown  through  a  tube  attached  to  the  plow  handles. 

Jethro  Tull  introduced  the  drill  in  England  in  1730.  His 
first  machine  sowed  three  rows  of  wheat  at  a  time.  In  1851 
*  Hunt.  Cereals  in  Amer  (1904).  p.  84. 


CULTIVATION  OF  WHEAT 


67 


Pusey  wrote:  "The  sower  with  his  seedlip  has  almost  van- 
ished from  southern  England,  driven  out  by  a  complicated  ma- 
chine, the  drill,  depositing  the  seed  in  rows,  and  drawn  by  sev- 
eral horses. ' '  In  America,  the  first  patent  granted  on  a  seeding 
machine  was  in  1799.  A  slide  broadcast  seeder,  which  was  a 
riding  implement,  was  patented  in  1835;  the  rotary  broadcast 
seeder  came  in  1856;  the  grain  drill  in  1874;  and  the  riding 
grain  drill  in  1884. 

The  Wagon  Seeder  is  the  best  machine  that  has  ever  been 
devised  for  rapidly  broadcasting  wheat.  It  is  mounted  on  a 
special  tail-board,  which,  when  the  machine  is  used,  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  tail-board  of  the  wagon.  It  consists  of  a  seed- 
hopper;  a  driving  shaft  connected  by  a  sprocket  chain  with  a 
sprocket  wheel  fastened  to  one  of  the  rear  wagon  wheels;  a 
rotating  seed  plate  in  the  bottom  of  the  hopper;  and  a 


A  MODERN  PRESS  DRILL  WITH  DISCS 

distributing  wheel  shaped  like  a  windmill.  The  grain  falls 
upon  the  distributing  wheel,  from  which  it  is  effectively  scat- 
tered by  centrifugal  force.  In  the  ordinary  force-feed  seeder 
gravity  does  the  distributing,  but  here  the  additional  factor  of 
the  centrifugal  force  given  by  the  distributing  wheel  is  in- 
volved. Two  men  and  one  team  can  broadcast  100  acres  a 
day  with  this  machine. 

The  Press  Drill  is  similar  to  the  ordinary  broadcast  seeder 
in  that  it  carries,  parallel  to  the  axis  of  its  two  wheels,  a 
seed-box  having  a  number  of  seed-cups  in  its  bottom.  From 
these  cups  the  seed  is  brought  by  feed-wheels  which  are  at- 
tached to  a  revolving  shaft.  This,  force  feed  was  the  first  great 


68  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

improvement  over  utilizing  gravity  alone  for  the  purpose  of 
distributing  the  seed.  The  grain  falls  into  a  tube,  which,  in- 
stead of  scattering  it  as  in  the  seeder,  carries  it  in  a  steady 
stream  to  the  bottom  of  the  shoe.  The  soil  is  pressed  laterally 
by  the  shoe,  and  the  seed  finds  a  moist  bed  in  which  to  germi- 
nate. It  differs  from  the  ordinary  drill  in  that  it  presses  a  V 
groove  instead  of  scratching  a  trench.  The  press  or  shoe  drill 
has  largely  superseded  the  hoe  drill,  especially  in  the  far  west. 
Disc  drills  are  also  used,  but  they  are  not  adapted  to  stony, 
hilly  or  wet  land.  Drills  and  broadcast  seeders  are  made  in 
standard  widths  of  8,  11  and  14  feet.  The  tendency  in  recent 
years  is  to  drill  in  the  wheat,  except  perhaps  in  California. 
In  the  Red  river  valley  four-horse  press  drills  covering  12  feet 
are  used.  About  30  acres  a  day  are  sown  by  one  man,  and  no 


A  TYPICAL  FORCE  FEED  BROADCAST  SEEDER 

subsequent  cultivation  is  necessary.  By  the  old  method  of 
seeding  by  hand,  one  man  could  sow  about  16  acres  per  day,  and 
the  wheat  had  to  be  cultivated  into  the  ground  after  it  was 
sown. 

The  Order  in  Which  Seeders  Have  Evolved  is  somewhat  as 
follows:  (1)  Sowing  by  hand;  (2)  the  broadcast  seeder,  tak- 
ing the  place  of  the  hand,  the  flow  of  the  seed  depending  on 
gravity;  (3)  the  broadcast  seeder  with  force  feed;  (4)  the  ordi- 
nary drill  with  a  force  feed  putting  the  grain  in  evenly  in 
rows  and  deeper;  (5)  the  press  drill,  which  is  now  the  best  ma- 
chine we  have  for  seeding.  In  the  absence  of  wind,  the  hand 
grass  seeder  can  be  used  advantageously  for  broadcasting  small 
areas. 


CULTIVATION   OF  WHEAT  69 

Perhaps  the  only  region  in  the  world  where  nature  still  oc- 
casionally seeds  the  ground  by  her  own  methods  so  efficiently 
as  to  produce  a  crop  is  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States. 
Some  wheat  is  nearly  always  "shed"  or  shelled  out  before  or 
during  harvest,  and,  if  cultivate!  into  the  ground  by  harrowing 
or  discing,  produces  what  is  known  as  a  "volunteer"  crop.  If 
not  enough  has  been  shed,  frequently  a  little  more  is  scattered 
over  the  field,  and  instances  are  not  uncommon  where  25  to  30 
bushels  per  acre  have  been  yielded  by  such  volunteer  wheat 
lands. 

The  Amount  of  Seed  required  per  acre  varies  with  time  and 
method  of  seeding,  with  soil  and  climate,  with  different  varie- 
ties of  wheat,  and  even  with  size  and  quality  of  seed  of  the 
same  variety.  One  variety  may  have  only  half  as  many  grains 
in  a  bushel  as  another.  A  bushel  of  shriveled  wheat  will  have 
more  grains  than  a  bushel  of  plump  wheat.  The  lower  the 
germinating  power,  the  more  seed  will  have  to  be  sown  per 
acre.  Less  seed  is  required  if  the  time  is  early,  if  the  rainfall 
is  light,  if  the  soil  is  fertile,  if  the  seedbed  is  well  prepared, 
and  if  the  grain  is  drilled.  The  yield,  however,  is  not  propor- 
tionate to  the  seed  sown,  for  by  tillering  more  or  less,  the 
wheat  plant  adjusts  itself  to  its  environment.  The  most  usual 
amount  sown  per  acre  in  the  United  States  is  about  5  pecks. 
It  varies  from  2  pecks  in  parts  of  California  to  9  pecks  in 
Ohio.  The  average  amount  sown  per  acre  in  the  United  States 
is  1%  bushels  in  the  winter  wheat  regions,  1%  bushels  in  the 
spring  wheat  regions,  7  to  9  pecks  in  the  Middle  Atlantic 
states,  6  to  8  pecks  in  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  valleys,  and  3 
to  8  pecks  in  California.1 

The  Time  of  Seeding  varies  so  much  with  soil,  climate  and 
different  varieties  of  wheat  that,  taking  the  world  around,  any 
time  during  the  entire  year  is  the  best  time  for  some  particular 
locality.  For  the  United  States  Carleton  says:  "It  is  a  pretty 
safe  rule  to  follow  the  practice  of  sowing  always  at  a  date 
which  is  considered  to  be  early  in  that  locality.  At  the  proper 
time  the  seeding  should  be  done  at  once,  without  regard  to 
weather  conditions."  ''  Local  conditions  must  always  determine 
the  time  for  any  particular  locality.  For  example,  if  an  attack 

1  Hunt,  Cereals  in  Amer.    (1904),  p.    86. 
3  Yearbook  U.  S.   Dept.  Agr.,   1900,  p.  541, 


70  THE  BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

of  Hessian  fly  is  imminent  in  a  certain  region,  the  farmers 
should  take  concerted  action  for  later  sowing.  Spring  wheat 
should  usually  be  sown  as  soon  as  the  ground  is  in  a  condition 
for  seeding.  Winter  wheat  sown  too  late  lacks  the  vitality 
needed  to  withstand  the  cold,  and  sown  too  early  it  produces  a 
rank  and  succulent  growth  that  is  injured  by  freezing. 

The  Depth  of  Seeding  varies  with  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the 
amount  of  moisture,  and  the  condition  of  the  seedbed.  In  a 
dry,  sandy  or  cloddy  soil,  it  is  necessary  to  sow  deeper  than  in 
a  wet,  clay,  or  level  soil.  Ordinarily,  the  wheat  should  be 
covered  with  about  one  inch  of  moist  soil. 

Harrowing. — After  the  ground  is  once  plowed,  the  im- 
plement most  commonly  used  for  further  cultivation,  either  be- 
fore or  after  sowing  the  wheat,  is  the  harrow.  There  are  three 
principal  objects  in  harrowing:  (1)  To  kill  weeds  and  grass, 
which  would  otherwise  absorb  moisture  and  nourishment  need- 
ed by  the  wheat;  (2)  to  level  the  surface  and  to  keep  it  cov- 
ered with  a  loose,  dry  mulch,  both  of  which  also  conserve 
moisture;  and  (3)  to  cover  the  seed.  In  drilled  wheat  the  lat- 
ter is  performed  in  sowing.  All  three  of  these  objects  may 
be  attained  in  one  operation. 

The  most  primitive  method  of  harrowing  was  to  drag  over 
the  ground  the  limb  of  a  tree  with  extending  branches.  This 
implement,  like  the  rude  plow,  is  often  found  reappearing  on 
the  frontier  of  civilization.  It  is  easily  improved  and  widened 
by  fastening  together  a  number  of  branches  so  that  it  does 
better  work  and  covers  a  wider  area.  In  California,  in  1835, 
the  wheat  was  sown  broadcast  by  hand  and  brushed  in  with  the 
branch  of  a  tree  drawn  twice  over  the  ground.  The  writer  can 
well  remember  when,  as  late  as  the  middle  eighties,  he  brushed 
wheat  into,  the  ground  with  a  "drag"  made  from  scraggy 
wild  plum  trees  cut  on  the  banks  of  the  Dakota  river.  A 
similar  implement  was  also  used  in  other  parts  of  the  United 
States.  Another  very  primitive  method  of  covering  the  grain 
was  that  used  in  ancient  Egypt,  where  it  was  trampled  into  the 
loose  ground  by  the  hoofs  of  animals. 

The  Romans  used  a  kind  of  harrow  before  the  Christian  era. 
In  1534  harrows  with  iron  teeth  were  used  in  England,  as 
well  as  some  with  wooden  teeth.  In  Northumberland,  in  1650, 
"the  harrow  was  constructed  without  joints  and  without  iron, 


•  CULTIVATION    OF   WHEAT  71 

of  branches  of  the  mountain-birch,  fixed  together  with  wooden 
pegs,  with  tines  of  the  tough  broom."1  The  oldest  and  simplest 
form  of  the  harrow  had  a  wooden  frame  with  teeth  of  wood  or 
iron.  As  it  was  drawn  over  the  field,  it  combed  or  raked  the 
surface  quite  level.  Two  improvements  have  since  been  made. 
It  is  constructed  in  two  or  more  sections  so  that  it  can  accom- 
modate itself  to  uneven  ground;  and  flexible  steel  bars  are 
used  in  the  frame  so  that  by  means  of  a  lever  the  teeth  can  be 
set  at  any  angle.  Harrows  25  feet  in  width  are  now  used  on 
the  large  western  farms  of  the  United  States.  With  such  a 
harrow  one  man  and  four  horses  can  cover  60  to  75  acres  per 
day. 

Various  other  forms  of  harrows  have  been  devised.  The 
principal  ones  are  the  spring  tooth  and  the  disc  harrows.  The 
latter  consists  of  a  main  frame  to  which  are  pivoted  two  sup- 
plementary frames.  Mounted  within  each  one  of  these  is  a 
shaft  carrying  a  series  of  concavo-convex  discs,  and  the  whole 
series  is  rolled  over  the  ground.  Adjusting  levers  swing  the 
supplemental  frames  to  any  angle  in  relation  to  the  line  of 
draft.  The  soil  is  cut  and  thrown  out  in  a  degree  proportional 
to  the  angle  set.  It  was  first  used  by  the  Japanese  in  ancient 
times.  In  the  last  decade  the  disc  principle  has  been  widely 
applied  to  harrows,  plows  and  cultivators. 

Cultivation  by  one  Operation. — As  early  as  1618  a  machine, 
worked  by  steam,  was  invented  and  patented  in  England  which 
plowed  and  fertilized  the  land  and  sowed  the  seed,  all  at  one 
operation.2  There  is  no  record  of  its  having  done  any  work. 
In  the  same  country  a  "double-hoppered  drill-plough "  was  ad- 
vertised as  a  new  machine  in  1744.  It  drilled  and  covered 
wheat  and  fertilizer  together.  Perhaps  the  only  instance  where 
any  practical  and  extensive  results  in  this  line  have  been  ob- 
tained is  in  California  and  northwestern  Canada.  Gang  plows 
are  used,  and  a  broadcast  seeder  attached  to  the  rear  of  the 
plow  sows  the  seed  as  fast  as  the  ground  is  plowed.  The  seeder 
is  usually  followed  by  a  harrow,  also  attached  to  the  plow.  A 
small  outfit,  operated  by  one  man  and  drawn  by  a  team  of  eight 
mules,  will  plow,  sow  and  harrow-in  the  seed  in  one  operation 
at  the  rate  of  from  10  to  15  acres  per  day.  On  the  large  farms 

1  Grey,  Agr.  in  Northmmb.,  p.  4. 

1  Perels,  Bedeutung  des  Machinenwesens,  etc.,  pp.   11-13. 


72  THE  BOOK  OF   WHEAT 

this  machinery  is  combined  into  great  gangs  drawn  by  a  power- 
ful traction  engine,  and  such  outfits  may  cover  from  35  to  100 
acres  per  day. 

Cultivation  Subsequent  to  Sowing. — As  a  rule,  in  most  coun- 
tries wheat  receives  no  cultivation  between  sowing  and  har- 
vesting. Occasionally,  however,  it  is  harrowed  or  rolled  after 
the  seed  has  germinated,  or  after  it  has  made  some  growth  and 
become  firmly  rooted.  This  is  done  to  kill  weeds  or  retard 
evaporation.  Ordinarily,  such  cultivation  has  not  been  found 
of  advantage  in  modern  wheat  growing.  In  Japan  wheat  is 
planted  in  rows  and  hoed,  but  vegetables  are  usually  raised  at 
the  same  time  between  the  rows.  In  the  time  of  Fitzherbert, 
a  kind  of  wooden  shears  or  hook  was  used  in  pulling  the  weeds 
out  of  wheat.  In  the  eighteenth  century  when  wheat  was 
drilled  in  England,  it  was  hoed  with  a  mattock  or  hoe. 

Pasturing  winter  wheat  is  practiced  to  a  certain  extent. 
This  should  never  be  continued  late  in  the  spring,  or  when  the 
soil  is  not  in  suitable  condition,  for  yield  and  quality  of  wheat 
will  then  be  lowered.  If  judiciously  practiced,  there  may  be  no 
reduction  in  yield.1 
1  Okla.  Bui.  65,  p.  6. 


CHAPTER  V. 
HARVESTING 

EARLY  CUSTOMS 

Risks  and  Customs  of  the  Harvest  Period. — Man  has  a  regu- 
lative control  that  is  sufficient  to  insure  a  crop  over  so  few  of 
the  essential  conditions  of  wheat  growing  that  there  is  always 
a  very  large  element  of  risk  involved  from  the  time  the  wheat 
is  sown  until  it  is  harvested.  Increasing  control  due  to  ac- 
cumulating knowledge  acquired  from  past  experience  continu- 
ally diminishes  the  risk.  When  a  balance  of  all  these  things 
has  been  struck,  however,  the  fact  remains  that  the  modern 
wheat  grower  is  playing  with  many  factors,  anyone  of  which 
may  cause  a  partial  or  complete  crop  failure.  Extremes  of 
heat  and  cold ;  drought ;  superabundance  of  rainfall ;  destructive 
hail  or  wind  storms;  floods;  parasitic  plants,  such  as  smut  and 
rust;  predatory  insects,  birds  and  rodents;  fire;  various  dis- 
eases and  other  unfavorable  conditions  may  defeat  all  means 
to  success  at  the  farmer's  command.  Thus  wheat  raising,  like 
most  of  the  extractive  industries,  has  a  large  aleatory  element 
which  cannot  be  eliminated,  though  it  may  be  reduced  to  a 
constant  factor  by  means  of  the  insurance  principle,  to  which 
we  will  give  subsequent  attention. 

This  risk  which  is  involved  reaches  its  maximum  at  the  har- 
vest period.  In  most  regions  wheat  must  be  promptly  har- 
vested when  it  is  ripe.  If  not  then  attended  to,  not  only  is 
the  period  of  risk  prolonged  when  there  is  no  possibility  of 
further  gain,  but  an  actual  loss  is  sustained  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions,  and  the  grain  is  also  more  susceptible  to 
the  destructive  influences  of  its  environment.  The  grain  will 
now  be  shelled  or  lodged  by  wind  previously  harmless,  many 
birds  seek  food  in  the  ripened  fields,  and  the  rain  causes  the 
seed  to  lose  color  and  to  sprout.  The  ripening  grain  must  be 
closely  watched,  for  the  determining  change  in  the  heads  may 
occur  between  one  day  and  the  next.  The  field  must  usuallyj) 
be  harvested  within  two  weeks. 

In  wheat  raising  the  whole  year's  toil  meets  with  no  reward 
before  the  harvest.  If  this  is  lost,  the  fruits  of  all  previous 

73 


74  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

labors  go  with  it.  Before  the  advent  of  modern  machinery, 
harvesting  was  the  most  burdensome  and  exacting  operation 
on  the  farm.  It  could  not  be  delayed.  The  completion  of  the 
harvest  gave  relief  from  this  season  of  toil  and  anxiety,  and 
replenished  bountifully  the  stores  of  grain  which  had  become 
scant.  Secure  in  this  abundance  and  free  from  the  arduous 
labors,  the  early  husbandmen  enjoyed  a  time  of  unusual  license 
during  which  they  dispelled  their  cares  with  rounds  of  uproar- 
ious jollification.  During  these  general  rejoicings  practically 
all  nations  celebrated  with  games  and  rustic  fetes  the  final  in- 
gathering of  the  sheaves.  In  England  the  close  of  the  season 
was  marked  with  the  " Harvest  Home."  A  procession  led  by 
a  pipe  and  tabor  marked  the  bringing  home  of  the  last  sheaves 
in  the  hock-cart.  The  load  was  surmounted  by  a  sheaf  shaped 
and  dressed  to  represent  the  goddess  Ceres,  or  by  pretty  girls 
of  the  reaping  band  in  fantastic  attire.  The  reapers  danced 
about  the  procession,  shouting: 

Harvest-home,  harvest-home, 

We  have  plowed,  we  have  sowed, 

We  have  reaped,  we  have  mowed, 

We  have  brought  home  every  load, 

Hip,  hip,  hip,  harvest-home,  etc. 

In  France  and  western  Germany  was  found  the  Harvest  May, 
bouquet  de  la  moisson.  A  green  sapling  or  branch  was  selected 
at  harvest  time  and  adorned  with  flowers,  ornaments,  and  dainty 
eatables.  It  was  often  set  up  in  the  field  that  was  being 
reaped.  When  the  harvest  was  made,  it  was  brought  home  on 
the  last  sheaf  or  load.  The  farmer  received  it  with  a  solemn 
welcome  and  attached  *t  to  some  conspicuous  spot  on  the  barn 
or  house,  where  it  remained  until  replaced  by  its  successor. 
These  harvest  festivals  of  modern  Europe  are  very  similar  to 
those  of  ancient  Greece,  from  which  they  have  descended. 
There  a  branch  of  olive  or  laurel  was  used  for  the  eiresione, 
or  harvest  bush,  and  it  was  carried  to  the  temple  of  Apollo. 

The  great  harvest  festival  of  Rome  was  the  Saturnalia,  held 
late  in  December  at  the  end  of  the  vintage  and  harvesting.  All 
classes,  even  the  slaves,  devoted  themselves  to  feasting  and 
mirth.  Probably  one  reason  why  our  Christmas  was  placed  at 
the  end  of  December  was  that  it  might  supplant  the  Saturnalia 
and  other  heathen  festivals.  While  Christmas  is  a  festive  oc- 


HARVESTING  75 

casion,  and  once  took  the  place  of  harvest  festivals,  Thanks- 
giving Day  is  our  national  harvest  festival.  It  ranks  as  a 
legal  holiday  and  is  fixed  by  proclamation.  This  day  was  sug- 
gested by  the  Hebrew  feast  of  tabernacles,  or  the  ' 'feast,  of 
ingathering  at  the  end  of  the  year.'7  Occasionally  in  our 
country  there  is  also  an  after  harvest  dance. 

Our  festivals,  however,  have  lost  the  rude  simplicity  and 
rustic  romance  characteristic  of  the  past,  and  they  are  less 
immediately  connected  with  the  harvest.  Modern  invention  has 
quite  changed  the  nature  of  harvesting,  rendering  it  an  ordi- 
nary process  and  depriving  it  of  many  features  which  made  it 
important  and  interesting  in  the  olden  times.  One  feature 
which  has  survived  is  the  annual  migration  of  harvest  la- 
borers. The  novelty,  the  hardship,  and  the  adventure  incident 
to  the  travel,  and  the  unusual  compensation  for  the  toil,  so 
often  performed  with  emulative  zeal,  have  always  lent  a  pe- 
culiar charm  and  enchantment  to  this  occupation  for  a  certain 
class  of  humanity.  Every  harvest,  bands  of  the  Irish  used  to 
travel  to  England,  while  the  Italians  and  Austrians  still  go  to 
France  and  Germany  to  help  reap  the  grain.  Shiploads  of 
Italians  regularly  go  to  Argentina  for  the  harvest  time,  and 
return  to  Italy  when  the  season  is  over.  Every  year  great 
numbers  of  agricultural  laborers,  both  men  and  women,  emigrate 
from  the  central  and  western  provinces  of  Russia  to  the  steppes 
of  the  east  and  southeast. 

Nowhere  else  has  this  feature  of  harvesting  evolved  to  such 
an  extent  as  in  the  United  States.  The  characteristic  attrac- 
tions are  here  found  in  an  unusual  degree,  especially  upon  the 
bonanza  farms  of  the  northwest.  In  this  district  there  is  no 
farming  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word,  for  wheat  raising  has 
become  a  business  interest  differentiated  from  all  others.  The 
hard  and  practical  business  atmosphere  of  our  age  is  every- 
where prevalent,  an  atmosphere  that  would  soon  chill  the  sim- 
ple home  customs  of  our  fathers.  Not  even  home  life  is  found 
here,  for  the  year  around  the  bulk  of  the  work  is  done  by 
transient  laborers  who  live  at  the  division  dormitory,  or  in 
quarters  far  out  on  the  fields.  Nor  is  there  the  association  of 
the  factory,  for  men  working  on  different  parts  of  the  same 
farm  will  often  not  see  each  other  a  single  time  from  one 
year's  end  to  another.  But  for  the  harvester  the  fascination 


76  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

of  magnitude  is  always  present,  for  magnitude  is  characteristic 
of  every  phenomenon  and  of  every  operation.  The  mere  sight 
of  a  field  of  swaying,  rippling  wheat,  with  its  green  and  gold, 
and  with  wave  upon  wave  rolling  away  beyond  the  observer's 
horizon,  surpasses  description. 

The  Harvest  Laborer.— In  the  United  States,  the  wheat 
harvest  begins  in  earnest  by  June.  It  is  September  before  the 
last  harvester  passes  northward  out  of  the  Red  river  valley,  and 
during  this  time  the  merry  click  of  the  reapers  is  heard  from 
sun  to  sun.  This  harvest-time  succession  has  developed  its  own 
typical  harvester.  He  first  appears  in  Oklahoma.  As  the 
wheat  ripens,  he  travels  northward.  Before  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska are  left  behind,  his  possessions  include  a  little  money,  a 
blanket,  and  perhaps  a  sooted  tin  tea  pail.  He  is  now  one  of 
an  army  of  many  thousands,  a  great  number  of  whom  follow 
the  harvest  through  the  Dakotas  and  beyond  the  Canadian 
border.  The  typical  men  of  this  class  rarely  pay  railroad 
fare.  Many  of  them  ride  into  the  bonanza  district  on  the 
" blind-baggage "  of  passenger  trains.  Perhaps  most  of  them 
ride  on  freight  trains,  at  times  over  a  hundred  on  one  train. 
As  a  rule,  the  men  of  this  class  are  not  "hoboes,"  though  now 
and  then  a  tramp  does  work.  The  tramp  element  helps  some, 
especially  when  laborers  are  scarce,  but  they  are  poor  and  un- 
satisfactory workmen,  and  are  avoided  when  possible. 

Perhaps  a  large  majority  of  the  men  required  to  harvest  the 
wheat  of  the  middle  west  do  not  follow  the  harvest  northward, 
but  merely  work  through  the  season  in  one  locality.  Tempted 
by  low  railroad  fares  and  large  wages,  they  come  from  nearby 
cities,  and  from  the  states  east  and  south  of  the  wheat  district. 
Many  of  them  are  farmers  and  farmers7  sons.  A  large  per 
cent  are  foreigners,  especially  Scandinavians.  The  personality 
of  the  men  varies  much.  Among  them  the  writer  has  found  the 
city  banker  again  seeking  in  the  harvest  fields  during  a  brief 
vacation  the  health  and  pleasures  experienced  in  younger 
years;  the  refined  college  youth  earning  the  means  with  which 
to  finish  his  course  in  the  east;  the  western  pioneer  making 
a  desperate  effort  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door  of  the  shanty 
that  sheltered  his  family,  and  to  save  the  homestead  by  paying 
the  interest  on  the  mortagage  which  drought  and  frontier  mis- 
fortunes had  placed  upon  it;  the  dreamy  faced  wanderer  who 


HARVESTING  77 

merely  drifts  with  his  environment;  and  the  coarse,  hard- 
featured  criminal  and  ex-convict.  It  has  been  estimated  that  15 
men  for  every  1,000  acres  of  wheat  migrate  annually  to  the 
wheat  districts.  The  number  recruited  from  other  sections  for 
the  harvest  of  Kansas  alone  in  1903  is  claimed  to  have  been 
28,000,  a  force  half  as  large  as  the  standing  army  of  the  United 
States.  Employment  agencies  in  adjacent  states  sent  men  into 
Kansas  in  companies  of  100  and  200.  Some  farmers  used  all 
the  guile  and  promises  at  their  command  to  induce  men  to  stop 
with  them  instead  of  journeying  farther.  Some  men  were  ac- 
tually kidnapped,  it  is  claimed,  from  the  platforms  of  the 
trains,  and  held  by  force  till  their  train  had  gone.  "In  Saline 
and  Cloud  counties,  when  the  harvest  started  and  there  was  a 
shortage  of  hands,  the  farmers'  daughters  went  into  the  fields 
while  the  thermometer  was  close  to  the  one  hundred  mark  and 
did  the  work  of  men."  Many  of  these  harvesters  remain  over 
for  the  threshing,  which  often  lasts  until  the  snow  flies  in  De- 
cember. Doubtless  a  majority  of  the  men  go  as  they  came,  on 
special  railway  excursions,  for  which  fares  are  frequently  one 
cent  a  mile.  The  itinerant  harvesters  disappear  so  gradually 
that  no  one  knows  where  they  have  gone.  Some  of  them  find 
their  way  to  the  mines  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Many  of  them 
go  to  the  logging  camps  of  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin. 

In  Argentine  there  is  a  succession  of  harvest-times  similar 
to  that  in  the  United  States.  It  begins  in  the  northern  prov- 
inces in  November  and  continues  to  move  southward  until  Feb- 
ruary. The  succession  of  wheat-harvesting  seasons  in  different 
countries  of  the  world  is  given  below:1 

January. — Australia,  New  Zealand,  Chile. 

February  and  March. — Upper   Egypt,   India. 

April.— Lower  Egypt,  India,  Syria,  Cyprus,  Persia,  Asia  Minor, 
Mexico,  Cuba. 

May. — Texas,  Algeria,  Central  Asia,  China,  Japan,  Morocco. 

June. — California,  Oregon,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Georgia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Kansas, 
Arkansas,  Utah,  Colorado,  Missouri,  Turkey,  Greece,  Italy,  Spain, 
Portugal,  South  of  France. 

July. — New  England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Michigan,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Southern  Minnesota,  Nebraska, 
Upper  Canada,  Roumania,  Bulgaria,  Austria,  Hungary,  Southern 
Russia,  Germany,  Switzerland,  South  of  England. 

August. — Central  and  Northern  Minnesota,  Dakotas,  Manitoba, 
Lower  Canada,  Columbia,  Belgium,  Holland,  Great  Britain,  Denmark. 
Poland,  Central  Russia. 

September  and  October — Scotland,  Norway,  Northern  Russia. 

November. — Peru,  South  Africa,  Northern  Argentina. 

December. — Argentina,  Burmah,  New  South  Wales. 

*  Crop  Reporter,  June,  1899. 


78  I  "  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

Proper  Stage  of  Maturity  for  Harvesting.— In  most  of  the 
wheat  growing  countries  it  is  a  very  general  practice  to  begin 
harvesting  before  the  wheat  is  quite  ripe.  This  lessens  the 
danger  from  loss  on  account  of  over-ripeness,  and  if  the  grain 
is  properly  cared  for,  it  does  not  seem  to  diminish  the  yield. 
Ordinarily,  cutting  should  begin  as  soon  as  the  straw  turns  yel- 
low and  the  grain  is  in  the  dough.  A  good  test  is  that  the 
kernel  "should  be  soft  enough  to  be  easily  indented  with  the 
thumb  nail  and  hard  enough  not  to  be  easily  crushed  between 
the  fingers."1  In  a  climate  like  that  of  California,  wheat  may 
stand  without  injury  for  over  two  months  after  it  is  ripe. 
There  is  no  danger  from  rain,  and  the  only  loss  occurring  re- 
sults from  an  occasional  sandstorm. 

HARVESTIN3   IMPLEMENTS. 

Machinery  for  Harvesting. — The  development  of  agricultural 
machinery  is  a  very  important  factor  in  the  world's  economic 
progress.  Growth  in  this  direction  has  been  very  marked  in  recent 
years,  and  in  no  class  of  agricultural  implements  has  it  been  more 
so  than  in  that  for  reaping  grain.  The  primitive  method  of  har- 
vesting wheat  doubtless  consisted  in  merely  pulling  up  the 
plants  by  the  roots  and  stripping  the  heads  from  the  stalks  by 
means  of  a  comb  or  hackle,  but  long  before  written  history 
crude  implements  were  devised  to  assist  the  hand  in  pulling  or 
breaking  off  the  straw.  From  these  rude  beginnings  to  the 
modern  combined  harvester  and  thresher  is  a  far  cry,  and  the 
wheat  grower  who  sacks  his  thousands  of  bushels  of  wheat  from 
over  100  acres  in  a  single  day  has  little  conception  of  the 
amount  of  painful  study  and  experimentation,  and  of  the  nu- 
merous inventions  it  has  required  to  evolve  from  the  ancient 
sickle  the  perfected  machine  with  which  he  so  easily  gathers 
his  grain. 

The  Sickle. — Flint  implements  resembling  a  rude  form  of 
sickle  or  reaping  hook  are  found  among  the  remains  of  the 
later  stone  age  in  Europe.  The  remains  of  the  early  European 
habitations  contain  bronze  sickles.  The  earliest  records  of 
Egypt  contain  accounts  of  reaping  by  means  of  crudely  con- 
structed implements  similar  to  the  modern  sickle  in  form. 
*  Hunt,  Cereals  in  America  (1904),  p.  103. 


HARVESTING  79 

Greece,  receiving  the  art  of  agriculture  as  a  heritage  from 
Egypt,  had  similar  forms,  as  did  also  the  Jewish  nation.  Since 
ancient  times,  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  have  reaped  with  an 
implement  resembling  the  sickle. 

All  sickles  were  used  with  one  hand  only.     The  grain  was  iut 


DIFFERENT   FORMS  OF  EARLY   SICKLES  AND   SCYTHES 

As  lettered  above :  a.  Egyptian  sickle ;  b.  sickle  of  the  middle  ages ;  /.smooth- 
edged  sickle;  c.  toothed  sickle;  d.  early  form  of  scythe;  e.  Hainault 
scythe  and  hook. 

always  bound  in  sheaves.  One  man  could  bind  what  six  reapers 
cut,  using  l '  corn ' '  for  binding.  A  reaper  cut  an  average  of  one 
acre  per  day.1  Brewer,  however,  states  that  in  England  in  1844 
seven  persons  usually  cut  one  to  one  and  one-half  acres  in  ten 
hours.2  Besides  being  still  widely  used  in  China  and  Japan,  the 
sickle  is  also  a  common  implement  among  the  Russian  peasants, 
and  in  Sicily.  The  first  wheat  raised  in  the  Bed  river  valley  in 
America  was  cut  with  sickles  and  bound  with  willow  withes  by 
women  and  children. 

The  Scythes  and  Cradles  are  all  used  with  both  hands.  They 
evolved  from  the  sickle  and  form  the  second  class  of  reaping 
appliances.  The  Hainault  scythe,  a  Flemish  implement,  was  a 
form  intermediate  between  the  sickle  and  scythe.  It  had  a  wide 
blade  about  2  feet  long.  The  handle,  about  a  foot  in  length, 
was  held  in  the  right  hand,  and  had  a  leather  loop  into  which 
the  forefinger  was  inserted.  The  handle  also  had  a  flat  part 
which  projected  against  the  wrist,  and  served  to  keep  the  blade 
in  a  horizontal  position.  The  left  hand,  aided  by  a  hook,  gath- 
ered the  grain.  The  early  scythes  were  clumsy  and  heavy. 
They  had  straight  handles,  and  were  used  for  cutting  grass 

1  Rogers,  Hist.   Agr.  and  Prices,  Eng.,   5:53. 

2  First    Cen.    of    Repub.,    p.    176. 


80  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

only.  As  the  scythe  evolved,  the  blade  became  lighter  and  the 
handle  passed  through  many  forms  before  it  permanently  as- 
sumed the  crooked  wooden  pattern.  When  fingers  were  fas^ 
tened  to  the  snath  to  assist  in  collecting  the  grain  into  bunches 
or  gavels,  the  scythe  became  a  cradle.  The  latter  implement 
was  perfected  in  America  during  the  last  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

The  scythe  seems  to  have  appeared  first  among  the  ancient 
Romans.  Before  1850,  the  scythe  or  cradle  and  the  sickle  were 
the  implements  almost  universally  used  in  harvesting  grain. 
The  perfected  American  cradle  spread  rapidly  to  other  coun- 


AN  EARLY  CRADLE  A  MODERN  CRADLE 

tries,  but  not  without  opposition.  In  England  such  violent  op- 
position developed  at  Essex  that  the  farmers  were  "deterred 
from  the  practice."  The  scythe  and  cradle  are  still  frequently 
found  in  use  in  Russia  and  in  various  other  parts  of  Europe. 
They  are  also  found  in  America  under  conditions  which  render 
other  implements  impracticable.  Within  fifty  miles  of  New 
York  City  are  farms  on  which  the  grain  is  still  reaped  with  the 
cradle.  Brewer  gives  l1/^  acres  a  day  as  the  amount  of  grain 
cradled  in  this  country  by  one  man.  It  required  two  others 
to  rake,  bind  and  "stook"  it.  Others  say  4  acres  a  day  could 
be  cradled  by  a  good  worker  while  another  raked  and  bound  it. 

HARVESTING   MACHINERY 

The  Header. — All  reaping  devices  thus  far  considered  have 
aimed   at   mechanical   advantages   alone.     All  of   those   subse- 


HARVESTING 


81 


quently  discussed  endeavor,  not  only  to  extend  and  improve  the 
mechanism  of  the  machine  so  that  it  will  perform  perfectly  each 
and  every  operation  connected  with  harvesting,  but  also  to 
apply  a  power  that  will  operate  the  machine.  Under  headers 
are  included  all  machines  that  are  designed  to  gather  only  the 
heads  of  the  wheat,  leaving  the  straw  in  the  field.  Such  ma- 
chines are  of  two  kinds;  stripping  and  cutting  headers.  The 
former  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  grain  gathering 


THE   GALLIC    HEADER,   DESCRIBED    BY   PLINY   A.    D.    70 

machine  mentioned  in  history.  It  was  used  by  the  farmers  of 
Gaul  'as  early  as  the  time  of  Christ.  Pliny  described  it.  A 
series  of  lance-shaped  knives  was  fastened  into  one  end  of  a 
large-bodied,  two-wheeled  cart.  An  animal  yoked  behind  the 
cart  pushed  it  through  the  grain.  After  the  heads  of  the  wheat 
were  stripped  from,  the  stalks  by  the  knives  or  teeth,  they  were 
raked  into  the  box-like  frame  by  an  attendant.  Palladius  gives 
a  similar  account  of  the  machine  in  the  fourth  century. 

After  being  used  during  hundreds  of  years,  the  Gallic  header 
disappeared,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  completely  forgotten 
for  several  centuries.  Only  through  literature  did  it  escape  the 
fate  of  permanent  oblivion  and  become  a  heritage  for  the 
modern  world.  The  published  descriptions  of  the  machine  by 
Pliny  and  Palladius  furnished  the  impulse  in  which  modern 
harvesting  inventions  originated.  Its  distinctive  features  are 
retained  in  several  modern  inventions  of  this  class,  machines 


HARVESTING  83 

which  have  a  practical  use  and  value  under  conditions  similar 
to  those  which  existed  on  the  plains  of  Gaul.  Toward  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  social,  economic  and  agricultural 
conditions  in  England,  on  account  of  increasing  competition  and 
the  higher  value  of  labor,  were  ripe  for  the  movement  of  in- 
vention that  was  heralded  by  the  printed  account  of  the  Gallic 
header.  The  first  header  was  constructed  by  William  Pitt  in 
1786.  It  was  an  attempted  improvement  on  the  ancient  ma- 
chine in  that  the  stripping  teeth  were  placed  in  a  cylinder 
which  was  revolved  by  power  transmitted  from  the  wheels. 
This  "rippling  cylinder'7  carried  the  heads  of  wheat  into  the 
box  of  the  machine,  and  gradually  evolved  into  the  present  day 
reel. 

Nearly  all  of  the  principles  involved  in  the  header  seem  to 
have  been  developed  mainly  in  connection  with  other  machines, 
such  as  the  reaper  and  combined  harvester,  in  connection  with 
which  they  will  be  discussed.  Before  1823  only  four  inventors 
of  harvesting  machinery  placed  the  power  in  front  of  the  ma- 
chine. This  involves  either  a  side  cut  or  driving  the  power 
through  the  grain.  On  account  of  the  great  width  of  cut  in  the 
header  the  side  cut  would  give  great  side  draft,  and  as  there  is 
nothing  to  counterbalance  this,  all  headers  are  propelled  in 
front  of  the  power.  Omitting  minor  details,  the  evolution  of 
the  header  was  completed  in  Haines'  celebrated  machine  of 
1849,  which  was  widely  known  as  the  "Haines  Illinois  harves- 
ter/' It  was  thoroughly  successful,  and  was  practically  the 
same  as  the  machine  of  today. 

The  modern  header  has  a  cutter  with  a  reciprocating  and  ad- 
vancing rectilinear  motion;  the  reel  brings  the  grain  upon  a 
traveling  canvas  apron  which  delivers  it  to  an  elevating  apron 
on  one  side,  and  this  in  turn  discharges  it  into  the  header-box 
placed  upon  a  wagon  driven  along  with  the  machine;  it  has  a 
swiveled  steering  wheel,  operated  by  a  suitable  tiller;  and  an 
evener,  to  which  the  four  or  six  animals  are  hitched,  is  pivoted 
forward  of  the  steering  wheel.  The  header  ordinarily  clips  the 
stalks  a  few  inches  below  the  heads  of  the  grain,  but  it  can  be 
run  very  low  for  lodged  or  short  grain.  It  saves  binding  and 
shocking,  but  it  is  essential  for  the  wheat  to  be  dry  before  it  is 
cut,  as  it  must  immediately  be  either  threshed  or  stacked.  If 
slightly  damp,  green,  or  weedy,  it  cannot  be  threshed  at  once, 


84  THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

and  may  stack-burn  if  stacked.  This  confines  the  use  of  the 
header  largely  to  the  western  part  of  the  United  States,  where 
peculiar  conditions  exist  which  make  it  possible  to  let  wheat 
ripen  completely  without  much  danger  of  loss,  though  the  ma- 
chine is  used  to  some  extent  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  Some 
wheat  growers  cut  with  binders  until  the  grain  is  ripe,  and 
then  use  the  header.  It  cuts  from  12  to  20  feet  in  width,  and 
from  15  to  50  acres  a  day.  In  Washington  three  headers  and 
one  threshing  machine  usually  work  together.  From  50  to  75 
acres  a  day  are  thus  harvested.  Three  header-boxes,  or  barges, 
are  usually  used  with  one  header.  These  are  often  unloaded 
at  the  stack  or  machine  by  horse  power.  A  peculiarly  arranged 
netting  is  laid  in  the  box,  and  by  means  of  ropes  and  a  derrick 
the  whole  load  is  hoisted  to  the  stack  or  feeder. 

The  header  was  used  very  extensively  on  the  Pacific  coast 
before  the  combined  harvester  came  in  use.  Sixteen-foot 
headers  drawn  by  six  mules  were  used.  The  grain  was  usually 
threshed  as  fast  as  it  was  headed.  The  ordinary  crew  for  a 
44-inch  cylinder  thresher  and  26-horse-power  engine  was  as 
follows:  Seven  headers  operated  by  42  animals  and  14  men; 
21  header-boxes,  requiring  42  animals  and  21  men ;  and  at  the 
machine  there  were  11  animals  and  32  men;  this  made  a  total  of 
95  animals  and  67  men.  In  1880  such  an  outfit  averaged  3,800 
bushels  per  day  in  California.  Many  headers  are  in  use  in 
South  America,  and  a  machine  similar  to  an  American  header 
is  also  being  used  in  Russia.  The  stripping  header  is  still  used 
in  Australia.  About  20  per  cent  of  the  headers  manufactured 
in  the  United  States  are  sold  in  foreign  countries. 

The  Reaper. — Under  the  reaper  are  included  all  machines 
designed  to  cut  the  grain  and  gather  it  in  bunches,  gavels,  or 
rows.  While  the  header  was  the  first  harvesting  machine  that 
was  invented,  it  was  not  the  subject  of  so  many  improvements, 
nor  did  it  have,  in  modern  times,  such  wide  and  early  practical 
utility  as  the  reaper.  The  ingenuity  of  man  is  well  shown  by 
the  numerous  devices  that  were  invented  to  accomplish  the  two 
objects  of  the  reaper.  Nearly  all  of  these  inventions  were  made 
in  England.  Two  forms  of  motion  were  utilized  in  cutting  the 
grain,  circular  and  rectilinear.  Both  forms  shared  the  contin- 
uous advancing  motion  of  the  machine  to  which  they  were  fas- 
tened. The  type  now  universally  used,  except  in  stripping 


HARVESTING  85 

headers,  is  a  reciprocating  rectilinear  motion.  As  perfected,  this 
type  involves  the  principles  of  both  the  saw  and  the  shears. 

In  Pitt's  "rippling  cylinder "  were  combined  the  first  use  of 
the  circular  motion,  the  first  forerunner  of  the  reel,  and  the 
first  utilization  of  the  principle  involved  in  transmitting  power 
from  the  wheels  of  the  machine  to  operate  some  of  its  parts. 
The  latter  principle  has  been  utilized  in  practically  all  harvest- 
ing machines  ever  built,  excepting  some  of  the  combined  har- 
vesters constructed  since  1903.  Some  form  of  the  reel  is  also 
found  on  every  harvesting  machine  which  has  had  any  success. 
In  consideration  of  these  facts,  Pitt's  name  holds  high  rank 
among  inventors  of  harvesting  machinery. 

The  first  patent  on  a  reaping  machine  was  granted  in  Eng- 
land to  Joseph  Boyce  in  1799.  Its  only  title  to  fame  is  priority. 


AN    EARLY    ENGLISH    REAPER    INVENTED    BY    BELL,    1828 

A  year  later  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  adopt  shears 
as  a  cutting  apparatus.  This  machine  was  unique  in  being 
operated  by  human  power.  Outside  and  inside  dividers  to 
separate  the  swath  from  the  grain  left  standing,  now  found 
on  all  harvesting  machines,  were  apparently  first  used  in  1805. 
With  Gladstone's  machine  (1806),  the  first  to  be  drawn  instead 
of  pushed,  appeared  the  side  cut  and  the  platform  upon  which 
the  severed  grain  falls.  Salmon  (1808)  first  utilized  the  re- 
ciprocating cutter  combined  with  the  advancing  motion  of  the 
machine.  His  reaper  was  also  the  first  to  have  a  self -delivering 
apparatus  for  the  grain.  Dobbs,  a  theatrical  genius,  invented 
a  reaper  (1841)  and  introduced  it  to  the  public  in  a  play  adapt- 


86 


THE    BOOK   OP   WHEAT 


ed  to  this  purpose.  The  stage  was  planted  with  wheat  which 
was  harvested  by  the  machine  during  the  course  of  the  play. 
While  English  genius  invented  the  essential  contrivances  of 
the  reaper,  American  ingenuity  must  in  the  main  be  accredited 
with  the  rapid  perfection  of  the  machine  for  practical  use.  The 
first  patent  issued  in  the  United  States  on  an  invention  in  this 
line  was  in  1803.  The  inventions  of  Hussey  and  McCormick 
came  before  1835.  McCormick 's  machine  (patented  1834)  was 
first  used  in  the  harvest  of  1831.  It  was  drawn  by  one  horse, 
and  seems  to  have  possessed  in  crude  form  all  of  the  essentials 


A   MODERN    SELF-RAKE  REAPER 

of  a  modern  reaper.  The  grain  was  raked  from  the  platform 
by  a  man  walking  behind  the  machine.  Developing  the  reaper 
of  today  consisted  solely  in  perfecting  contrivances  for  utilizing 
the  principles  already  discovered.  The  devices  for  automatically 
removing  the  grain  from  the  platform  were  many,  and  they 
varied  greatly  in  principle  and  crudeness.  The  revolving  vane, 
the  first  form  of  which  was  invented  by  Hoffhein  (1852),  finally 
became  established  as  the  most  advantageous  method. 

The  reaper  was  virtually  perfected  by  1865,  but  in  the  United 
States  other  forms  of  harvesting  machines  soon  entirely  sup- 
planted it  in  cutting  wheat.  It  is  widely  used  in.  Europe  at 


HARVESTING 


87 


the  present  time,  especially  in  Russia  and  France,  and  nearly 
all  machines  of  this  kind  manufactured  in  the  United  States  are 
sold  abroad.  A  reaping  attachment  is  often  used  with  a  binder 
to  drop  the  grain  in  bunches,  and  it  is  also  widely  used  with  a 
mower  by  small  farmers  in  Europe. 

The  Self-Binding  Harvester. — All  machines  which  deliver  the 
grain  bound  in  sheaves,  whether  it  is  bound  automatically  or 
otherwise,  are  considered  as  binders.  The  reaper  cut  and  col- 
lected the  grain.  This  is  only  a  part  of  the  harvesting  prob- 
lem, and  before  this  part  was  fairly  solved,  inventions  began 
to  appear  seeking  by  means  of  an  automatic  binder  to  do  away 


A  MODERN  SELF-BINDING  HARVESTER 


with  the  slow  and  laborious  process  of  hand  binding.  In  the 
case  of  the  binder,  discovery  and  invention  must  both  be 
credited  to  the  United  States.  Better  economic  and  social  con- 
ditions, dearer  and  scarcer  labor,  and  more  level  and  extensive 
grain  fields  were  the  conditions  that  made  all  agricultural  ma- 
chinery very  profitable  in  the  United  States,  and  caused  this 
country  to  outstrip  England  in  the  development  of  harvesting 
machinery. 

Binders  have  been  divided  into  two  classes :  Those  in  which 
the  binding  device  is  attached  to  a  machine  of  the  self-rake 
pattern,  called  the  "low-down"  class;  and  those  in  which  the 
grain  is  elevated  to  the  binder.  Straw,  metal  strips,  wire  and 


88  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

twine  were  the  four  types  of  band  with  which  experiments  were 
made.  Some  machines  carried  an  attendant  to  do  the  binding; 
others  required  an  attendant  to  aid  in  this;  others  were  auto- 
matic, but  the  power  had  to  be  furnished ;  while  still  others  were 
automatic  and  received  their  power  from  the  machine.  The 
first  effort  to  bind  grain  by  machinery  was  made  by  John  E. 
Heath  of  Ohio.  His  patent  (1850)  was  on  a  twine  or  cord 
binder  of  the  low-down  type.  Next  (1850-1851)  appeared  the 
first  machine  with  men  riding  on  it  to  bind  the  grain  as  it  was 
cut.  It  had  a  box  for  carrying  the  sheaves,  the  first  forerunner 
of  the  bundle-carrier.  Other  contrivances  that  now  appeared 
were:  The  cord  knotter  (1853);  the  wire  twister  (1856);  the 
straw  braid  twister  (1857) ;  the  automatic  trip  regulating  the 
action  of  the  binder  and  the  canvas  to  elevate  the  grain  over 
the  drive  wheel  (1858) ;  and  the  knotting  bill  and  revolving 
cord  holder  (1864). 

The  Marsh  machine  began  its  successful  career  on  the  mar- 
ket in  1864,  and  from  this  date  the  "low-down"  type  of  ma- 
chine had  a  minor  popularity.  There  is,  however,  still  a  suc- 
cessful binder  of  this  type  on  the  market  which  is  unique  and 
very  popular  for  certain  classes  of  grain  harvesting  on  smaller 
farms.  The  Lake  wire  binder  (about  1873)  was  perhaps  the 
first  commercially  successful  automatic  binding  machine 
brought  out.  There  were,  however,  serious  objections  to  wire 
binders,  for  pieces  of  wire  were  carried  into  threshing  machines, 
and  even  into  flour  mills,  where  they  occasioned  fires  by  coming 
in  contact  with  rapidly  moving  machinery. 

The  name  best  known  among  persons  interested  in  harvesting 
machines  is  that  of  John  F.  Appleby.  He  had  the  genius  to 
combine  the  advantages  of  preceding  inventions  with  some  of 
his  own  inventions  in  such  a  manner  as  to  attain  success.  The 
Appleby  binder  on  the  Marsh  frame  was  an  irresistible  combi- 
nation that  outstripped  all  competitors,  and  at  once  sprang 
into  such  popular  favor  that  it  swept  over  the  world  with  over- 
whelming rapidity.  The  problem,  at  the  solution  of  which 
many  inventors  had  aimed  in  hundreds  of  patents  during  30 
years,  was  solved.1 

1  Ardrey,   Amer.  Agr.   Implements,   pp.    64-77;   Miller,   Evolution 
Reaping  Machines,  pp.  34-37. 


HARVESTING  89 

The  standard  binder  combines  the  cutter  and  draft  of  the 
reaper  with  the  reel  and  traveling  canvases  of  the  header,  and 
adds  the  automatic  device  for  binding  the  grain  in  sheaves,  and 
the  bundle  carrier  for  collecting  them  in  piles.  The  operator 
can  adjust  the  reel  at  will  while  the  machine  is  in  motion.  An 
endless  canvas  on  the  platform  of  the  machine  conveys  the  cut 
grain  to  two  similar  canvases,  between  which  the  grain  is  ele- 
vated to  the  opposite  side  of  the  drive  wheel.  It  is  there  re- 
ceived and  packed  into  a  bundle  by  the  binding  device.  As  the 
size  of  the  bundle  increases,  the  resulting  pressure  trips  the 
binder,  which  binds  automatically  as  often  as  it  is  tripped.  The 
pressure  required  for  this,  an  I  consequently  the  size  of  the 
bundle,  can  be  regulated.  While  in  operation,  the  entire  ma- 
chine can  be  adjusted  to  variations  in  the  grain  and  in  the 
levelness  of  the  field.  The  most  usual  width  of  cut  is  6  feet,  but 
machines  cutting  different  widths  are  made.  One  man  with 
three  horses  will  harvest  from  10  to  20  acres  per  day  with  the 
binder,  and  it  requires  two  other  men  to  shock  what  is  cut.  A 
bonanza  farmer  expects  such  an  outfit  to  cut  250  acres  in  a 
reason.  On  the  Dalrymple  farms  of  Dakota,  binders  with  7-foot 
cut  are  used,  and  about  15  are  run  in  one  crew.  Each  crew  or 
gang  has  its  overseer.  A  wagon  follows  with  water,  twine  and 
other  articles,  while  a  gang  of  shockers  set  up  the  wheat  as  fast 
as  it  is  cut.  In  the  United  States  the  binder  is  used  in  every 
state  which  raises  wheat,  while  abroad  it  is  used  quite  extensive- 
ly in  England,  Russia,  Germany,  France  and  parts  of  South 
America,  and  to  a  less  extent  in  other  countries  where  wheat 
is  grown. 

The  Header-Binder  is  the  most  recent  development  in  binders, 
and  is,  as  the  name  suggests,  merely  a  binder  attached  to  the 
header.  It  has  the  wide  cut  of  the  header  and  the  grain  can 
be  cut  in  the  same  condition  as  with  a  binder  or  reaper.  These 
machines  haTTe  found  quite  extensive  favor  in  the  Dakotas,  Kan- 
sas, Oklahoma,  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  in  Argentina. 

In  binding  wheat,  a  10,000-acre  farm  uses  two  carloads  of 
twine  in  a  single  harvest,  an  amount  that  would  lay  a  line 
around  the  whole  coast  of  England,  Ireland  and  Scotland.  It  is 
estimated  that  the  United  States  consumes  annually  from 
110,000  to  120,000  tons  of  binder  twine. 


90  THE    BOOK    OP   WHEAT 

Shocking. — We  found  in  a  previous  chapter  that  the  ripening 
process  in  wheat  involves  a  transfer  of  material  from  the  straw 
to  the  grain.  If  the  grain  is  cut  before  it  is  dead  ripe,  as  is 
usually  the  case,  this  transferring  process  is  not  completed  at 
harvest.  Under  these  circumstances  the  completion  of  the 
ripening  process  is  greatly  aided  by  prompt  shocking  and  cap- 
ping, and  loss  will  result  if  the  grain  is  not  thus  protected 
from  the  hot  sun  and  wind.  This  purpose  is  best  accomplished 
by  round  shocks  with  caps.  If  the  sheaves  are  large,  or  if  the 
grain  is  green  or  weedy,  it  is  customary  to  put  12  bundles  in  a 
shock.  Their  disposition  is  as  follows :  Three  pairs  are  placed  in 
a  row;  two  bundles  are  then  placed  on  each  side  of  the  row; 
the  eleventh  bundle  is  placed  on  top  of  the  shock,  and  the 
twelfth,  after  its  ends  have  been  spread  fan-shape,  is  placed 
crosswise  of  the  eleventh.  In  a  shock  of  16  bundles,  the  disposi- 
tion is  the  same,  only  that  four  pairs  are  placed  in  the  row,  and 
three  in  each  side.  A  method  of  shocking  that  is  quicker  and  more 
advantageous  when  the  grain  is  practically  ripe  at  cutting  con- 
sists of  placing  any  convenient  number  of  pairs  of  bundles  in  a 
row.  In  any  method,  efficiency  and  economy  of  time  demand  that 
two  sheaves  be  handled  at  once. 

Combined  Harvesters  include  all  combinations  of  machines  de- 
signed to  leave  both  straw  and  charf  in  the  field  and  to  deliver 
the  wheat  cleaned  ready  for  market.  The  combined  harvester 
is  the  culmination  of  the  modern  movement  of  discoveries  and 
inventions  pertaining  to  harvesting  machinery.  With  this  ma- 
chine the  wheat  is  cut,  gathered,  threshed,  cleaned,  and  even 
sacked  without  a  single  touch  from  the  human  hand.  On  one 
side  the  grain  is  cut,  and  on  the  other  side  it  is  dropped  at  regu- 
lar intervals  in  piles  of  filled  and  tied  sacks,  ready  for  the 
market.  Every  operation,  except  sewing  up  the  sacks,  is  me- 
chanically and  automatically  performed  by  the  application  of 
horse  or  steam  power.  In  economy,  in  capacity  and  thorough- 
ness of  work,  in  perfection  of  mechanical  construction,  and  in 
ease  of  operation,  there  is  apparently  little  more  to  be  attained. 
The  combined  harvester  can  be  used  advantageously  in  a  dry 
climate  only,  where  there  is  little  fear  of  rain,  and  no  great 
dews,  which  should  be  off  before  the  middle  of  the  forenoon. 
It  also  cannot  be  used  where  the  grain  is  moistened  by  the 
damp  breath  of  the  ocean,  as  in  western  Oregon. 


HARVESTING}  91 

Ridley,  an  Englishman  residing  in  Australia,  invented  a  com- 
bined harvester  in  1845  which  employed  the  principle  of  the 
ancient  machine  of  Gaul  and  attracted  considerable  attention. 
This  type  of  combined  harvester,  commonly  known  as  the 
"  stripper, "  is  still  used  in  Australia,  and  is  especially  adapted 
to  the  dry  harvest  seasons  prevalent  in  that  country.  Strip- 
pers have  been  manufactured  in  Canada  and  in  the  United 
States.  They  have  been  tried  in  California  and  Washington, 
but  the  atmospheric  conditions  did  not  seem  suited  to  them. 
In  Argentina,  however,  their  introduction  seems  quite  suc- 
cessful. 

This  machine  strips  the  heads  from  the  stalks  of  standing 
wheat  by  means  of  a  comb  resembling  the  ordinary  sickle  guard 
in  appearance.  Directly  above  the  rear  of  the  comb  is  a  drum 
about  18  inches  in  diameter  in  which  works  a  rapidly  revolving 
beater  which  aids  the  comb  in  the  decapitating  process  and  fur- 
nishes a  draft  which  carries  the  heads  up  into  the  threshing 
cylinder.  This  consists  of  teeth  revolving  within  stationary 
teeth,  and  the  threshing  is  more  of  a  rubbing  than  a  battering 
process.  From  the  cylinder  the  grain  and  straw  pass  to  the 
sieves  over  a  vibrating  metal  table.  Imperfectly  threshed 
grains  are  returned  to  the  cylinder.  The  straw  and  chaff  is 
discharged  at  the  rear  of  the  machine,  and  the  winnowed  grain 
is  carried  to  the  top  of  the  machine  by  a  belt  and  cup  ele- 
vator. Here  the  grain  is  screened.  The  screenings  and  the 
perfect  grain  pass  to  separate  bins,  from  which  they  are  bagged. 
A  receiving  box  drops  the  bags  in  piles  of  four  or  five.  Some  of 
the  machines  discharge  the  straw  and  chaff  under  the  middle 
of  the  machine,  and  fill  the  bags  automatically. 

The  stripper  can  be  used  only  in  wheat  that  is  ripe,  dry,  and 
free  from  weeds,  for  otherwise  the  grain  will  not  thresh  clean 
and  the  machine  will  clog.  It  is  suited  only  to  non-shattering 
wheat,  which  is  not  lost  in  the  operation  of  harvesting.  The 
expense  of  harvesting  in  this  manner  is  estimated  to  be  from 
one-fifth  to  one-half  that  of  binding  and  threshing  wheat.  With 
a  boy  to  ride  the  lead  horse,  one  man  can  operate  the  machine, 
and  from  four  to  seven  horses  can  easily  draw  it.  A  machine 
taking  a  five-foot  swath  will  cover  from  6  to  10  acres  per  day. 
In  1902  the  price  of  these  machines  was  $750  gold  in  Argentina, 
but  it  has  since  been  reduced. 


92  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAfl 

The  combined  harvesters  used  in  the  United  States  are  re- 
stricted by  climate  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes  on  the  basis  of  the  power  used,  whether  animal  or 
steam.  In  the  work  and  operation  of  these  two  classes  of 
machines,  there  is,  in  the  main,  only  a  difference  in  capacity. 
The  standard  horse-power  machine  cuts  a  swath  from  16  to  20 
feet  wide;  is  drawn  by  24  to  40  horses;  harvests  from  25  to  45 
acres  of  wheat  per  day;  and  requires  four  men  to  operate  it. 
It  requires  a  machine  man  to  regulate  the  cutting  bar  and  look 
after  the  machine  in  general ;  a  steersman,  a  man  to  manipulate 
the  sacks  and  tie  them,  and  a  driver.  This  is  the  most  advan- 
tageous harvester  to  use  on  the  smaller  farms,  those  having  less 
than  3,000  acres.  It  was  used  successfully  before  1880,  but  its 
sale  and  manufacture  in  a  commercial  way  did  not  begin  until 
1885. 

The  Steam  Harvester  has  a  cutting  bar  from  24  to  42  feet 
long,  requires  eight  men  to  operate  it,  and  harvests  from  75  to 
125  acres  per  day  at  a  cost  of  from  30  to  50  cents  per  acre, 
which  is  the  cost  of  the  mere  twine  with  which  the  sheaves  are 
bound  when  the  wheat  is  harvested  with  a  binder.  The  traction 
engine  or  motive  power  is  independent  of  the  harvester  proper. 
An  auxiliary  engine  is  mounted  on  the  frame  of  the  harvester. 
Steam  conveyed  to  this  engine  from  the  boiler  of  the  traction 
engine  constitutes  the  driving  power  for  running  the  cylinder, 
separator,  header,  and  recleaner,  ' '  the  effect  being  a  steady  and 
uniform  motion  of  all  parts  at  all  times  and  in  all  conditions  of 
the  grain  and  at  any  speed  at  which  the  harvester  may  be 
traveling. ' ' 

The  traction  engine  is  110  horse-power,  has  double  engines, 
and  nine  to  12-inch  cylinders.  The  driving  or  carrying  wheels 
are  eight  feet  in  diameter,  and  have  a  width  of  32,  40  or  60 
inches,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  ground  on  which  the 
machine  is  to  be  operated.  This  style  of  outfit  is  used  very 
largely  on  the  reclaimed  tule  lands.  The  separator  has  a  cylin- 
der from  26  to  40  inches  in  length.  The  mechanism  of  the 
machine  is  so  perfected  that  the  feeder,  cylinder,  grain  carrier, 
shoe,  and  all  cleaning  devices  remain  in  a  level  position  upon 
uneven  land  and  no  matter  how  the  machine  is  set.  Thus  under 
all  conditions  the  machine  does  substantially  the  same  work  as 
upon  a  dead  level. 


HARVESTING  93 

The  greatest  width  machine  that  was  ever  put  out  was  an 
experimental  one  of  52  feet.  It  was  built  lay  a  farmer,  and 
was  not  a  success  on  account  of  its  construction.  While  suc- 
cessful machines  with  a  width  of  40  and  42  feet  have  been 
turned  out,  there  are  two  standard  large  size  machines,  both 
smaller.  One  cuts  a  width  of  25  feet,  while  the  other  consists 
of  a  22-foot  header  with  a  12-foot  extension,  making  34  feet  in 
all.  The  machines  of  a  greater  width-can  scarcely  be  considered 
as  a  single  machine.  They  consist  of  a  regular  cut  of  about 
16  feet,  with  an  addition  of  about  12  feet,  making  28  feet  for 
the  machine  proper.  Then  an  independent  header  pushed  by 
horses  delivers  to  the  outer  canvas,  thus  making  the  42  feet. 
Such  an  outfit  is  used  only  in  the  very  lightest  crop,  and  its 
exceptional  cut  is  of  advantage,  not  only  in  covering  more 
ground,  but  also  in  keeping  the  thresher  and  cleaner  sufficiently 
supplied  with  grain  to  insure  the  best  work.  The  manufac- 
turers claim  that  "the  steam  harvester  can  handle  grain  in  al- 
most any  condition,  whether  it  is  standing,  lodged,  tangled  or 
overgrown  with  weeds." 

A  Complete  Outfit  for  thus  harvesting  grain  consists  of  trac- 
tion engine,  auxiliary  engine,  thresher,  header,  water-tank 
wagon  and  cook-house.  The  average  price  of  such  an  outfit  is 
about  $7,500.  The  great  expense  and  capacity  of  these  ma- 
chines make  them  suitable  only  for  the  larger  farms,  those 
containing  from  3,000  to  20,000  acres  of  land.  The  steam  com- 
bined harvester  was  put  on  the  market  in  a  commercial  way  in 
1892.  The  average  life  of  the  machine  is  from  8  to  15  years. 
The  great  advantages  of  this  machine  are  economy  in  time  and 
power  on  account  of  combining  so  many  operations  in  one,  the 
rapidity  with  which  grain  may  be  marketed  after  it  is  ripe,  the 
small  amount  of  human  labor  required,  the  diminution  of  risk 
from  fire,  and  the  waste  of  grain  which  is  avoided. 

It  is  a  Pacific  coast  production  and  its  sale  is  at  present  con- 
fined almost  exclusively  to  that  section  of  the  world.  It  is  the 
typical  machine  of  the  ' '  Inland  Empire, ' '  a  name  applied  to  all 
of  the  Pacific  northwest  east  of  the  Cascades  and  Sierras.  At 
least  two-thirds  of  the  wheat  of  California  is  reaped  with  the 
combined  harvester.  It  is  a  novel,  interesting  and  picturesque 
valley  scene  to  see  this  ponderous  harvester  sweeping  through 
miles  upon  miles  of  ripened  wheat,  devouring  swaths  from  16  to 


94  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT" 

42  feet  in  width,  raising  its  cloud  of  yellow  dust,  and  leaving 
behind  a  long  train  of  sacked  grain,  ready  to  be  hauled  to  the 
warehouse,  railroad,  or  mill.  It  is  estimated  that  3,000  com- 
bined harvesters  were  operated  on  the  Pacific  coast  in  1903. 

THRESHING. 

Threshing  is  the  operation  of  separating  the " grain  from  'the 
chaff  and  straw.  It  is  perhaps  an  entirely  safe  proposition"  to 
say  that  this  has  been  accomplished  in  every  imaginable  man- 
ner. Perels  states  that  the  oldest  method  of  threshing  was  by 
utilizing  animals  in  tramping  out  the  grain,  but  the  flail,  ac- 
cording to  the  same  author,  was  known  in  grayest  antiquity  in 
a  form  similar  to  that  of  the  present  day.  Both  methods  have 
been  used  in  modern  times.  It  is  more  probable  that  the  first 
grain  was  shelled  by  hand,  and  that  the  first  advance  was  to 
an  auxiliary  implement,  a  staff  or  rod  with  which  the  heads 
were  pounded.  The  heads  were  also  whipped  across  sticks  or 
poles.  The  flail  was  early  invented  by  attaching  a  club  to  the 
staff.  The  wind  was  the  first  fanning  mill,  the  grain  being 
thrown  up  so  that  the  chaff  would  be  blown  away.  The  same 
forces,  gravity  and  a  current  of  air,  are  still  utilized.  The  only 
improvements  have  been  in  the  manner  in  which  they  are  ap- 
plied and  in  the  addition  of  the  screen. 

Horses  were  used  to  tramp  out  the  grain  in  early  times  in  the 
United  States,  or  a  great  roller  with  large  wooden  pins  was 
dragged  over  the  grain.  .  These  methods  were  still  used  in  this 
country  in  1835  or  1840.  From  23  to  30  bushels  per  day  for 
three  horses,  a  man  and  a  boy  were  the  usual  results.  This 
method  is  still  often  used  in  Russia,  where,  in  cleaning  the 
wheat,  the  "shovel  and  wind"  plan  is  utilized  for  the  chaff, 
and  a  sieve  3  or  4  feet  in  diameter  is  used  for  removing  weed 
seeds  and  grading  the  grain.  In  Spain  and  Syria,  the  thresh- 
ing is  also  frequently  accomplished  by  driving  oxen  or  horses 
ever  the  grain.  The  same  method  is  occasionally  found  in  re- 
mote parts  of  Argentina.  Even  in  New  Mexico  one  could  find 
grain  reaped  with  the  sickle  and  threshed  by  the  trampling 
of  goats  as  late  as  1899. 

The  Flail. — Where  this  implement  was  used,  threshing  was 
the  chief  farm  work  of  winter.  The  flail  was  not  rare  in 


HARVESTING  95 

the  United  States  as  late  as  1830,  was  common  in  Great  Britain 
until  1850,  and  was  still  used  in  Germany  in  1872.  It  is  used 
now  in  parts  of  Europe  where  the  holdings  are  very  small  or 
the  peasants  poor,  notably  in  Russia.  From  8  to  12  bushels  of 
wheat  was  considered  a  good  average  day's  work. 

The  Second  Method  of  Applying  Animal  Power  to  threshing 
was  by  drawing  over  the  grain  an  implement  made  rough  on  the 
bottom.  It  has  been  used  in  Egypt  from  ancient  to  present 
times,  and  consists  of  a  wooden  frame  with  three  cross  bars  or 
axles  on  which  are  fixed  circular  iron  plates.  In  ancient  times 
the  grain  was  usually  at  the  circumference  of  the  circle  over 
which  the  machine  was  drawn,  but  now  it  is  stacked  in  the 
center.  It  was  called  the  noreg,  and  another  form  was  known 
as  the  charatz.  The  moreg  of  the  Hebrews  was  a  similar  de- 
vice, and  the  old  Roman  devices  corresponding  to  these  in- 
ventions were  the  traka  and  tribula.  Italy  and  some  of  the  east' 
ern  countries  still  use  substantially  the  same  implement.  A 
knifeboard  construction  known  as  the  trilla  is  used  in  Spain. 

The  Evolution  of  Modern  Threshing  Machines. — During  the 
eighteenth  century  three  Scotchmen  made  separate  inventions 
that  led  up  to  the  modern  threshing  machine.  Michael  Menzies 
came  first  (1732).  He  contrived  to  drive  a  large  number  of 
flails  by  water  power.  It  was  called  a  " wonderful  invention," 
' '  capable  of  giving  1,320  strokes  per  minute,  as  many  as  33  men 
threshing  briskly, "  and  as  "moved  by  a  great  water  wheel  and 
triddles."  Its  only  contribution  was  to  demonstrate  the  im- 
practicability of  the  flail  motion.  About  1758  a  Scotch  farmer 
named  Lackie  invented  a  rotary  machine  which  could  thresh 
dry  oats,  but  in  wheat  it  merely  knocked  off  the  heads.  Its 
value  lay  in  showing  the  superiority  of  the  rotary  motion,  and 
it  was  the  first  suggestion  of  the  modern  cylinder.  The  first 
machine  of  the  modern  type  was  invented  by  Andrew  Meikle  in 
1786,  patented  in  1788,  and  completed  in  1800  by  the  addition 
of  a  fanning  mill.  This  was  the  first  machine  to  thresh,  clean, 
and  deliver  the  grain  in  one  operation. 

The  early  machines  were  driven  by  water,  or  worked  by 
horses,  though  wind  power  was  also  used.  ' '  Cider  mill ' '  horse- 
powers were  most  frequently  used  at  first.  Tread  or  railway 
powers  came  next,  and  soon  afterward,  the  sweep  powers.  All 
of  the  early  threshers  were  stationary.  The  first  threshing  by 


96  tfHE   BOOK  Ofl  WHEAT 

steam  was  in  1803.  The  first  machines  to  be  successfully 
placed  upon  the  market  were  open-cylinder  threshers,  known 
under  various  names,  as  "chaff-pliers,"  "bob-tails,"  "ground- 
hogs," and  "bull-threshers."  They  simply  threshed  the  grain 
and  did  not  clean  or  separate  it.  H.  A.  Pitts  (1834)  success- 
fully combined  the  "ground-hog"  with  the  common  fanning 
mill  in  portable  form.  He  and  his  brother  patented  (1837)  the 
original  of  the  great  type  of  "endless  apron"  or  "great  belt" 
separators. 

Threshing  machines  were  first  brought  into  general  use  in 
Great  Britain.  Many  were  introduced  from  1810  to  1820.  In 
the  southern  counties  of  England,  the  machines  were  the  ob- 
ject of  popular  attack,  and  in  many  districts  the  farmers  were 
obliged  to  abandon  such  as  had  been  erected.  Pusey  wrote 
in  1851:  "Open  air  threshing  may  appear  visionary;  but  it 
is  quite  common  with  the  new  machinery."  The  coal  burnt  by 
the  best  engines  per  horse  power  per  hour  was  28  pounds  in 
1847.  Four  years  later  it  was  less  than  one-fourth  as  much. 
Steam  was  soon  universally  used  for  threshing  in  England. 
The  first  "bull-threshers"  were  used  in  the  United  States  about 
1825.  They  spread  rapidly  until  1835,  when  separating  devices 
had  been  added.  Five  years  later  little  threshing  was  done  by 
other  means.  Horse  power  was  used  exclusively,  and  it  was 
not  until  about  1876  that  steam  power  began  to  come  into  use. 

In  Germany  there  were  many  lever  "hand  threshing  ma- 
chines ' '  in  use  in  1850.  Two  men  worked  the  lever,  and  a  third 
fed  the  grain,  but  these  three  laborers  could  thresh  more  grain 
with  less  labor  by  using  the  flail,  while  the  machine  also  cut  up 
the  straw  and  wheat.1  By  1872  steam  threshing  had  well  begun 
to  drive  out  other  methods  of  threshing  in  Germany.  In  1854 
a  steam  engine  of  three-horse  power  threshed  160  bushels  of 
wheat  in  a  day.  Similar  engines  up  to  nine-horse  power  ex- 
isted, and  they  threshed  more  grain.  An  American  machine 
threshed  25  bushels  per  hour  in  the  early  sixties.  In  1876  a 
steam  thresher  operated  by  18  hands  threshed  well  2,000  bushels 
of  wheat  in  one  day.  The  bulk  of  the  grain  was  always  quite 
easily  threshed  from  the  straw.  The  great  difficulty  was  to 
save  the  little  that  was  usually  left.  It  was  estimated  that  from 
5  to  10  per  cent  of  the  wheat  was  left  in  the  straw  by  hand 
threshing. 

1  Perels,  Bedeutung  des  Maschinenwesens,  pp.  25-27. 


HARVESTING  97 

Practically  all  threshing  in  the  United  States  is  now  done  by 
steam.  The  musical  hum  of  the  machines,  which  could  be 
heard  for  miles,  and  which  possessed  a  peculiar  fascination  that 
always  charmed  the  threshermen,  accompanied  the  sweep  pow- 
ers with  gearing  and  tumbling  rods  to  their  oblivion.  The  side 
gear  driving  the  cylinder  of  the  separator  made  most  of  the 
noise.  When  this  gear  was  cut  off  to  give  place  to  the  belt 
pulley,  the  noise  was  reduced  to  a  minimum,  although  the  hum 
of  the  cylinder  is  still  maintained.  A  few  farmers  own  their 
own  machines,  but  generally  the  threshing  is  done  for  a  stated 
price  per  bushel  by  the  itinerant  outfit.  In  some  sections  the 
farmers  still  exchange  work  in  the  threshing,  while  in  others 
the  whole  crew  travels  with  the  outfit.  The  farmer  then  simply 
takes  care  of  the  grain.  On  the  smaller  farms,  500  to  1000 
bushels  are  threshed  per  day. 

On  the  large  farms,  whether  the  grain  is  bound  or  headed,  the 
last  day  of  harvesting  is  the  first  day  of  threshing.  If  bound, 
the  grain  is  not  stacked,  as  it  generally  is  on  the  smaller  farms, 
but  is  threshed  from  the  field.  It  is  usually  considered  fit  to 
thresh  after  it  has  cured  in  the  shock  for  about  ten  days.  When 
wheat  is  stacked,  it  begins  to  ' 'sweat'7  about  three  days  after 
stacking,  and  the  process  is  over  in  about  three  or  four  weeks. 
It  has  been  claimed  that  this  is  beneficial  to  the  wheat  in  that 
it  is  fed  from  the  straw,  and  that  the  berries  thus  become 
plumper  and  heavier  and  also  acquire  a  better  color.  English 
writers  seem  to  say  nothing  concerning  this  process  of  sweat- 
ing. The  northwestern  wheat  growers  of  the  United  States 
claimed  that  the  wheat  would  sweat  in  the  bin  if  this  process 
had  not  taken  place  in  the  stack  before  threshing.  When  it  is 
dried  by  seasonable  cutting  and  threshing,  however,  it  is  very 
questionable  if  it  can  sweat  or  heat  in  the  bin.1 

The  Modern  Threshing  Machine  has  a  self-feeder,  a  band- 
cutter,  and  an  automatic  straw-stacker.  There  are  also  auto- 
matic weighing  attachments.  The  grain  is  pitched  upon  the 
self-feeder,  and  the  machine  performs  all  the  other  operations. 
There  are  two  forms  of  automatic  stackers,  the  swinging  stacker 
with  rake  to  elevate  the  straw,  and  the  wind  stacker,  in  which 
the  straw  is  forced  through  a  long  air-tight  chute  by  a  blast 

1  TJ.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,   Spec.  Kept.  No.   40,  p.   30;   Hunt,   Cereals  in 
America   (1904),  p.107. 


98 


THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


from  a  fan  within  the  machine.  But  even  with  "  blowers, "  as 
the  latter  are  called,  the  straw  pile  often  becomes  awkwardly 
high,  and  the  machine  is  moved  from  it.  Sometimes  the  straw 
is  also  dragged  away  by  horses  hitched  to  a  large  rack,  an  op- 
eration which  is  called  " bucking  the  straw."  The  cleaned 
grain  is  delivered  from  the  machine  through  a  spout.  On  the 
bonanza  farms  it  is  run  into  grain  tanks  holding  about  150 
bushels,  which  are  hauled  to  the  elevators  or  railroads,  by 
four-horse  teams.  About  30  men  are  employed  with  each  ma- 
chine, and  they  thresh  and  haul  away  from  2,000  to  3,000  bushels 
per  day;  1,300  acres  is  the  minimum  capacity  of  one  machine. 
Ordinarily  it  will  thresh  2,400  acres,  2,500  acres  require  two 
machines,  and  6,500  acres  require  three.  Straw  is  usually 
burned  in  the  engine.  During  the  season  of  1903  one  of  the 


SECTION    OP   A   MODERN    THRESHING   MACHINE 

largest  threshers  in  Kansas  turned  out  3,500  bushels  of  wheat 
in  9  hours  and  45  minutes.  This  seems  to  be  the  usual  maxi- 
mum. Only  4  men  are  required  to  operate  this  machine.  It 
takes  18  men  and  10  two-horse  wagons  to  bring  the  shocked 
wheat  to  the  thresher.  The  largest  amount  of  wheat  which  the 
writer  has  found  recorded  as  being  threshed  in  one  day  is  6,183 
bushels  in  1879.  The  work  was  done  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances  by  a  steam  thresher  having  a  48-inch  cylinder.  x 

A  complete  threshing  outfit  consists  of  a  traction  engine 
(which  also  hauls  the  whole  outfit  from  place  to  place),  a 
separator,  a  straw  or  coal  wagon,  a  water  wagon,  a  "cook- 
shack,"  and  a  sleeping  tent.  The  cook-shack,  a  product  of 
the  west,  is  a  small  house  on  wheels  which  serves  as  a  kitchen 
1  10th  U.  S.  Census.  3:457. 


HARVESTING 


99 


and  dining  room.     In  the  early  fall  before  it  is  too  cold,  the 
men  often  sleep  upon  the  straw  in  the  open  air. 

Distribution  and  Manufacture  of  Machinery.— The  figures  of 
the  following  table  pertain  to  the  United  States  only.  A 
summary  of  patents  on  machinery  which  does  not  include  ma- 
chines used  exclusively  in  industries  other  than  that  of  wheat 
is  not  available.  Over  2,000  patents  were  on  wheat  harvesters 
and  over  3,000  on  wheat  threshers.  The  figures  on  the  sales 
are  to  a  certain  extent  approximations. 


Patents 
granted 
before 
19021 

Average 
sale 
per 
year2 

Per  cent  of 
machines 
sold 
abroad2 

Plows 

11  625 

? 

p 

Harrows  and  Diggers  

5,774 

? 

? 

Seeders  and  Planters 

8  566 

? 

? 

Reapers  

35,000  to 
40  000 

75 

Binders 

11,258 

150,000  to 
225  000 

15 

Headers  and  Header  Binders  
Combined  Harvesters  (horse  power)  
Combined  Harvesters  (steam) 

4,000 
200 
25 

20 
? 
? 

Threshers  

4,951 

? 

? 

Little  attention  has  been  given  to  the  export  trade  of  the 
combined  harvester,  principally  because  the  capacity  of  the 
manufacturers  has  been  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  fill  home  orders. 
Machines  have  been  shipped,  however,  to  Australia,  Argentina 
and  Spain,  and  though  they  work  fairly  well,  the  people  do 
not  take  kindly  to  them.  They  lack  the  proper  amount  of  in- 
telligence to  operate  the  machines  with  the  best  results,  a 
difficulty  not  experienced  to  any  great  degree  in  the  United 
States.  Argentina,  Paraguay  and  Uruguay  have  taken  most  of 
the  machines  that  have  been  exported  to  South  America,  about 
one-fourth  of  the  total  exports.  Another  one-fourth  has  gone 
to  the  colonies  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  and  the  others 
have  gone  mainly  to  European  countries.  Many  also  go  to 
Canada;  718,113  binders  were  sent  there  during  the  9  months 
ending  March  31,  1903.  Over  two-thirds  of  the  exports  are 
mowers  and  reapers.  As  many  as  9,000  tons  of  machines  have 
been  shipped  abroad  in  a  single  steamer. 

1  Census  Bui,  200,  1902,  p,  17.    *  Letters  by  competent  observers. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
YIELD  AND  COST  OF  PRODUCTION 

YIELD. 

Factors  Increasing  Yield. — As  farming  methods  are  improved, 
the  yield  of  wheat  per  acre  is  being  increased.  Some  of  the 
main  factors  causing  the  increase  are:  (1)  The  use  of  drills  in 
seeding  results  in  greater  immunity  against  drought  and  winter- 
killing, especially  if  press  drills  are  used;  (2)  crop  rotation; 
(3)  improved  methods  in  plowing  and  cultivation;  (4)  improve- 
ment of  seed  by  natural  and  artificial  selection,  and  by  hybridi- 
zation; (5)  fertilizing;  (6)  irrigation;  and  (7)  tile  drainage. 

Factors  Decreasing  Yield.— Nearly  all  of  the  factors  just 
mentioned  are  inoperative  in  a  new  country,  for  their  product 
gives  intensive  cultivation,  while  extensive  cultivation  is  always 
characteristic  of  a  new  country  under  ordinary  conditions.  The 
yield  is  always  low  under  extensive  methods  of  farming.  Such 
methods  lower  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  a  further  decrease  in 
yield  results.  The  rapid  improvement  in  farm  machinery  has 
favored  extensive  cultivation.  It  has  also  cheapened  the  cost 
of  production,  so  that  comparatively  poor  grades  of  land  which 
it  was  previously  unprofitable  to  work  can  now  be  farmed  at  a 
fair  rate  of  profit.  The  operation  of  these  factors  is  perhaps 
best  shown  by  the  wheat  statistics  of  Australia. 

From  1873  to  1898  the  acreage  of  all  the  provinces  of  Aus- 
tralia except  that  of  Tasmania  increased,  in  some  very  greatly, 
while  in  every  province  (except  Tasmania,  where  there  was  a 
decrease  in  acreage  until  the  last  eight  years  of  the  period), 
the  yield  decreased,  in  some  cases  over  one-third.  During  the 
ninth  decade  in  New  South  Wales  the  increase  in  acreage  was 
slight  and  the  decrease  in  yield  insignificant,  but  in  the  next 
eight  years  the  acreage  increased  nearly  fourfold,  while  the 
yield  fell  off  about  one-third.  The  apparent  lack  of  correlation 
between  increase  in  acreage  and  decrease  in  yield  in  one  or  two 
of  the  provinces  is  doubtless  due  to  some  other  factors. 

The  yield  of  wheat  per  acre  in  different  countries  is  shown 
in  the  following  table.1  Figures  in  parentheses  show  limits  to 

100 


YIELD   AND 


'101 


which  acreage  had  increased  or  decreased  by  end  of  decade, 
in  round  thousands.    The  bushel  is  the  unit  in  this  table. x 


1860 

1870 

1880 

1890 

1900 

1904 

Av. 
1894 
to 
1898 

Av. 
1899 
to 
1904 

United  States  

(15,000) 
9.92 

(18,000) 
11.9 
(3,831) 

(37,000) 
12.4 
(3,065) 

(36,000) 
11.8 
(2,483) 

(42  ,000) 
13.3 
(2  158) 

(47,854)3 
14.5. 

14.'6 

13"  7 

United  Kingdom. 
Australia*  
Victoria       



(349) 

25.4 
(977) 
12  7 

28.5 
(1,145) 
10  1 

32.6 
(2,154) 
8  0 

27.7 

32.9 

32.4 

New  S.  Wales  .. 



(166) 

(252) 
14.5 

(333) 
14.3 

(1,319) 
10  6 

Queensland  



(3) 
(25) 

(10) 
15.0 
(27) 

(10) 
11.0 
(33) 

(46) 
14.9 
(74) 



West'n  Aust'a.. 

(784) 

12.4 
(1,733) 

11.5 
(1,673) 

10.5 
(1,788) 

South  Aust'a 

8  3 

6  4 

4  6 

Tasmania 

(58) 

(50)   * 
17  9 

(39) 
18  0 

(85) 
18  8 

New  Zealand.... 
France  

16"6 

(132) 
16  3 

(324) 
27.0 
16.4 

(301) 
24.5 
17.9 

(339) 
24.2 
18.1 

18"6 

19"  8 

2'6".8 

European  Rus'a.. 
Germany 

7.9S 
18  2s 

6.5 

21  5 

8.0 
27  9 

11.4 
29  4 

9.3 
25  7 

9  7 
28  1 

Hungary  

14.15 

19.8 

17.3 

16.3 

17.6 

17  6 

Italy    

12.15 

12.1 

11  5 

11  8 

14  7 

10  5 

10  6 

Canada  

13.75 

15.5 

14.3 

16.8 

Argentina 

12  7 

12.1 

India  

9.2 

10.7 

10.1 

France  is  a  good  example  of  an  older  country  where  the 
yield  is  being  increased  by  intensive  cultivation.  In  1840 
the  yield  was  14.6  bushels  per  acre,  and  in  1850,  15.6.  The 
constant  and  regular  rise  in  the  yield  per  acre  for  nearly  three 
quarters  of  a  century  in  France  is  remarkable.  The  acreage 
rose  gradually  from  about  12,500,000  acres  in  1831  to  about 
17,500,000  acres  in  1898.  If  poorer  wheat  land  was  brought 
under  cultivation,  the  advance  in  methods  of  culture  more  than 
counterbalanced  its  effect.  It  is  very  interesting  to  compare 
the  United  Kingdom  with  France.  The  data  cover  the  years 
from  1871  to  1898  inclusive.  In  this  period  the  acreage  of  the 

1  Data  taken  from  Yearbook  U.   S.  Dept.  Agr.,   1902,   1905.     Mo. 
Summary  of  Commerce  and  Finance,  Jan.,  1900,  pp.  2039-2065.     U.  S. 
Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Sta.,  Bui.  42,  1906,  p.  26. 

2  1866. 

3  1905. 

4  All  dates  for  Australia  begin  in  1873  and  end  in  1898. 

5  1883, 


102   '  -v  ;  l-:      vOJHJ^  BOOK  ,OF    WHEAT 


United  Kingdom  decreased  over  one-third  while  the  yield  in-- 
creased one-sixth.  In  the  same  period  the  acreage  of  France  in- 
creased about  one-eleventh,  while  the  yield  increased  less  than 
one-ninth.  Presumably  both  countries  made  approximately  the 
same  advance  in  the  arts,  that  is,  in  methods  of  production.  It 
does  not  appear  that  there  ever  was  a  case  where  an  advance  in 
the  arts  supplanted  with  wheat  a  crop  more  profitable  than 
wheat  was  before  the  advance.  In  increasing  her  acreage  France 
had  to  utilize  lands  of  lower  yield,  thus  reducing  the  average 
yield  of  all,  while  the  United  Kingdom  raised  the  average  by 
exactly  the  opposite  process,  namely,  by  reducing  her  acreage 
in  ceasing  to  sow  to  wheat  those  lands  of  such  a  low  yield  as  to 
be  unprofitable. 

In  the  United  States  the  causes  and  effects  cannot  be  traced 
easily  or  clearly.  We  see  that  the  greatest  increase  in  acre- 
age was  in  the  eighth  decade,  but  this  acreage  was  located  in  the 
Mississippi  and  Red  river  valleys.  It  consisted  of  some  of  the 
most  fertile  land  of  our  country,  and  proved  to  be  better  wheat 
land  than  any  which  had  previously  been  sown  in  that  grain. 
Consequently,  it  was  but  natural  that  the  yield  should  rise,  es- 
pecially as  there  had  been  but  little  intensive  farming.  The 
rise  in  yield  would  doubtless  have  been  constant  since  that  date, 
had  it  not  been  for  abnormal  natural  conditions  which  seem  to 
have  decreased  the  actual  yield  slightly  in  the  ninth  decade,  al- 
though the  potential  yield  has  increased  uninterruptedly.  Since 
the  ninth  decade  the  increase  in  acreage  has  been  comparatively 
rapid,  doubtless  largely  due  to  great  improvements  in  machin- 
ery, but  the  arts  have  advanced  rapidly  enough  to  more  than 
counteract  these  results.  The  average  yield  from  1866  to  1886 
was  12.2  bushels  per  acre,  while  that  from  1886  to  1906  was 
13.7.  There  is  such  a  great  annual  variation  in  yield  that 
statistics  are  not  conclusive  unless  they  are  averages  extending 
over  at  least  a  decade. 

Columella  gives  19.5  to  27  bushels  as  the  amount  of  wheat 
that  the  Romans  raised  per  acre.  From  1200  to  1500  England 
raised  4  to  8  bushels  per  acre,  while  she  raises  about  30  now. 
The  testimony  of  a  contemporary  observer  shows  the  yield  of 
wheat  near  Philadelphia  in  1791  to  have  averaged  less  than  8 
bushels  per  acre.  It  is  now  more  than  twice  that  amount.  The 
greatest  yield  of  wheat  in  the  United  States  seems  to  be  in  the 


YIELD  AND   COST  OF   PRODUCTION 


103 


Pacific  northwest.  This  is  perhaps  partly  due  to  the  ideal 
weather  prevailing  there.  A  long,  wet  winter  with  little  frost; 
a  cool,  wet  spring,  gradually  fading  away  into  the  warmer  sum- 
mer; only  light  rains  after  blossoming;  abundant  sunshine  and 
rather  dry  air  toward  harvest;  and  dry  weather  for  harvest 
seem  to  be  the  most  favorable  weather  conditions  for  the 
maximum  yield.  Sixty  to  70  bushels  per  acre  were  harvested, 
even  in  the  sixties.  A  volunteer  crop  may  give  25  to  30  bushels. 

COST    OF    PRODUCTION. 

The  itemized  cost  of  raising  an  acre  of  wheat  in  different  lo- 
calities and  years  is  given  in  the  table  below: 


Argent'a1 

d 

rt 

Wash.3 

a 

M 

£ 

a 

a 

a 

90-00 

Minn.' 

1 

| 

0 

a 

t 

Date 

1904 

1903 

1903 

1902 

1902 

1880 

1873 

1601 

1250 

k)st  of  raising  per  bu. 
Jreparing  land  :  Misc. 
Plowing  

$0.52 
0.18 
0.64 
0  18 

$0.26 

"i  do 

$0.24 

$0.37 
1.24 
0.96 
0.28 
0.92 

L36 

$0.46 
'd"70 
1  1.00 

$0.64 
1.15 
1.00 
0.15 
1.05 
0.30 
0.75 

l".90 
0.75 

$0.35 

LOO 
0.65 

$0.92 
3.60 

4.00 
4.00 

$0.42 
3.19 
1.74 
1.45 

2717 
d!'72 

2.  17 

6!'33 

0.03 
0.22 

d.'di 

Seeding:  
Drilling  or  Seeding.. 
Seed  
[arvesting  &  Thresh, 
larvesting  
Cutting  and  Twine.  . 
Twine 

0'.89 

2.12 

2"20 

0  25 
045 

1.25 
L20 

080 
040 

Shocking  
Stacking  
'hresh.  &  Market  
'hresh.  &  put  in  bin... 
Tireshing  
fertilizing  

0.15 
1.00 
0  90 

1.60 

1.50 

0.60 

l.'2S 

nt.  on  land:  (ins.)  
!iit.  on  mch'ry,  etc  
nterest  

0.39 
0.89 

1.80 
0.20 

1.90 
0.29 

1.95 

1.40 

3.60 

2.00 

2.28 
0.25 

0"30 

'ax  

0.71 

Total  Cost 

$8.29 

$7.80 

$7.20 

$7.31 

$8.28  $6.40 

$7.00 

£11.60 

$8.45 

1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Sta.,  Bui.   27,   pp.  56-59. 
-  Eastman,  Rev.  of  Revs.,   28:198. 

3  Letter,  H.  Haynes;  loc.  cit.,  &  Spokesman-Review,  Wash.,  Oct. 
1,   1903. 

4  Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Agr.,  p.  12,  1902. 

5  Ency.  Brit.,  10th  ed.,  1:217. 

6  Indus.  Com.,  10:707.     Also  U.   S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Sta.,  Bui. 
48,  1906,  p.   54. 

T  Atlantic  Mo.,  45:34-35. 

8  U.  S.  Agr.  Rept.,  p.  369,  1873. 

9  Hartlib,   Legacy  of  Husb.;  Rogers.  Hist.  Agr.  &  Prices,  Eng., 
4:493. 

10  Henley,  Walter  L.,  quoted  in  Rogers,  loc.  cit.,  1:270. 


YIELD   AND   COST   OF  PRODUCTION  105 

The  variations  in  these  accounts  suggest  the  difficulties  inci- 
dent to  obtaining  reliable  figures.  The  cost  of  production  varies 
at  different  times  and  on  different  farms.  In  most  cases  it  is 
impossible  to  give  a  reliable  average,  for  the  statistics  are  want- 
ing. According  to  the  table,  Argentina  can  raise  an  acre  of 
wheat  at  the  same  cost  as  that  of  the  Red  river  valley  in  the 
United  States.  The  average  cost  of  raising  an  acre  of  wheat  in 
Russia  is  about  $8. 

There  are  also  many  accounts  of  the  cost  of  raising  wheat 
which  are  not  itemized,  and  consequently  still  less  reliable.  In 
the  United  States  cost  varies  greatly  in  different  sections.  In 
Washington  it  is  from  20  to  35  cents  a  bushel.  In  Oregon  20 
cents  is  recorded.  It  is  not  likely  that  this  price  can  include 
interest  on  capital,  in  any  section.  In  North  Dakota  50  to  54 
cents  is  the  cost;  $5.72  per  acre  is  also  given  for  this  state,  not 
including  interest  on  land.  The  running  expenses  averaged 
$3.77  in  South  Dakota  from  1894  to  1900  inclusive.  The  total 
expense  in  Minnesota  is  $6.40.1  In  the  early  nineties  the  ex- 
pense of  raising  an  acre  of  wheat  was  $7.50  in  Arkansas,  from 
$6.13  to  $10.32  in  Nebraska,  and  $10.38  in  experiments  in  Wy- 
oming. Where  wheat  was  the  sole  crop,  $10  was  given  as  a 
total  average  cost  per  acre  in  the  United  States  on  a  farm  of 
160  acres  in  1882.  It  is  claimed  that  the  shores  of  the  Great 
Lakes  could  raise  wheat  at  15  cents  per  bushel  before  1850, 
while  the  river  counties  of  Illinois  raised  wheat  for  30  cents, 
including  hire  of  land  and  all  expense. 

The  cost  of  raising  a  bushel  of  wheat  in  England  was  given  as 
$1.76  in  1821  and  $1.45  in  1885.  In  the  black-earth  region  of 
Russia  the  cost  of  producing  wheat,  including  rent,  was  said  to 
range  from  35  to  73  cents  per  bushel  during  the  last  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  In  the  first  quarter  of  that  century  the 
cost,  exclusive  of  rent,  was  given  as  97  cents.  The  average  cost 
in  Russia  during  the  years  1899  to  1903  inclusive,  not  including 
expense  of  rent  and  seed,  varied  from  34  to  48  cents  per  bushel 
for  spring  wheat. 2  Poggi  says  that  the  cost  of  a  bushel  of 
wheat  in  Italy  is  69  cents,  its  production  being  at  a 
loss.  He  criticises  others  who  state  its  cost  as  only  44  cents, 
and  who  say  that  it  can  be  profitably  produced. 3  In  Hungary 

1  Indus.  Com.,  10:ccxv. 

2  TJ.   S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bureau  of  Sta.,  Bui.  42    (1906),  pp.   85-6. 

3  Atti  del  Institute  Veneto,  etc.,  Tomo  Ivi,  7th  s.,  T.  ix.  p.  723. 


106  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

the  cost  is  from  52  to  63  cents  per  bushel,  or  from  $10.58  to 
$12.79  per  acre,  not  including  land  rent.  In  Germany  the  cost 
is  95  cents  per  bushel.  It  costs  65  cents  a  bushel  to  raise 
wheat  in  India,  but  according  to  rather  extensive  data  col- 
lected by  the  department  of  agriculture  of  that  country  the 
cost  was  exactly  half  this  amount  in  1884.  The  average  an- 
nual cost  of  cultivating  an  acre  of  land  in  England  rose  from 
about  $17.45  in  1790  to  about  $34.90  in  1813.1  Threshing  wheat 
by  flail  in  that  country  cost  about  8  cents  a  bushel.  By  the 
old  system  of  horse-power  machines,  it  cost  about  5  cents, 
and  by  steam  this  was  reduced  to  2  cents. 

The  cost  of  raising  wheat  in  the  United  States  has  not  been 
reduced  so  greatly  in  the  older  wheat  states  as  in  the  new 
states  of  the  west,  where  the  level  and  extensive  farms  give 
the  greatest  opportunity  for  the  use  of  labor-saving  ma- 
chinery. For  example,  the  combined  harvester  saves  from  3.6 
to  5.4  cents  a  bushel  on  the  cost  of  harvesting  with  the  header 
alone. 

The  Profit  on  Raising  Wheat  usually  is  not  large,  and  it 
has  often  been  denied  that  there  is  any  profit  at  all. 2  Under 
the  most  favorable  average  conditions  the  bonanza  farmers 
of  the  Red  river  valley  do  not  make  a  net  profit  of  over  $3.32 
per  acre,  or  8  per  cent  on  the  capital  invested. 3  In  England 
before  the  plague  of  1332-1333  a  lord  possessing  feudal  rights 
over  all  the  land  in  a  manor  made  a  profit  of  about  18  per 
cent  on  agricultural  operations.  After  the  plague,  1350-1351, 
profits  were  very  low,  at  the  best  less  than  4  per  cent  on  the 
capital  invested  in  the  estate.  Hartlib  gives  the  profit  on  an 
acre  of  wheat  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  as 
about  $9.  In  order  that  there  may  be  any  profit  in  raising 
wheat  in  Argentina  it  is  said  that  the  yield  must  exceed  10  or 
12  bushels  per  acre. 

Amount  of  Labor  Required. — About  1775  in  the  United  States 
it  was  3  days'  work  to  cut  100  bushels  of  wheat,  to  bind  and 
"stook"  it  took  4  days,  while  threshing  and  cleaning  re- 
quired 5  days  more.  In  all,  it  required  about  15  days  of 
hard  manual  labor  to  get  100  bushels  through  these  processes. 

1  Lowe  Pres.   State   of  Eng.,  p.   153. 

2  Indus.  Com.,  Vol.  10. 

3  Ency.  Brit.,  10th  ed..  1:217. 


YIELD  AND  COST  OF  PRODUCTION  107 

Thus  it  took  about  1  hour  and  45  minutes  of  human  labor  to 
harvest  and  thresh  each  bushel.  These  figures  of  Brewer  are 
too  small,  however,  as  compared  with  those  given  by  the  de- 
partment of  labor  for  1830.  According  to  the  latter  figures 
it  required  2  hours  and  32  minutes  at  that  time  for  the  same 
operations.  In  1896,  by  the  use  of  the  combined  harvester, 
this  time  had  been  reduced  to  5.6  minutes.  The  cost  of  human 
labor  per  bushel  had  declined  from  15  cents  to  2.2  cents.  The 
entire  time  of  human  labor  necessary  to  produce  one  bushel  of 
wheat,  including  sowing,  reaping  and  threshing,  fell  from  3  hours 
and  3  minutes  in  1830  to  10  minutes  in  1896.  In  the  same  period 
of  time  the  cost  of  human  labor  per  bushel  fell  from  17% 
cents  to  3  1-3  cents.  The  cost  of  both  animal  and  human  labor 
fell  from  20  cents  to  less  than  10  cents.  The  greatest  saving 
has  been  in  harvesting.  The  human  labor  which  does  remain 
is  quite  light  compared  to  that  of  1830.  This  reduction  in 
cost  of  production  represented  a  saving  of  about  $91,000,000 
for  the  United  States  on  the  wheat  crop  of  1907. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
CROP  ROTATION  AND  IRRIGATION 

CROP   ROTATION. 

The  Effects  of  Continuous  Cropping. — Different  crops  re- 
move from  and  contribute  to  the  soil  elements  of  different 
kinds  or  in  different  proportions.  The  availability  of  plant 
food  is  also  influenced.  Continuously  raising  one  crop  tends  to 
exhaust  the  soil  of  the  food  elements  available  for  that  crop. 
In  a  rotation  of  crops  these  effects  are  not  so  manifest.  Some 
crops  also  contribute  to  the  soil  elements  needed  by  others,  as, 
for  example,  leguminous  plants  fix  nitrogen  which  becomes 
available  for  wheat  the  next  year.  A  rotation  involves  differ- 
ent methods  of  cultivation,  which  are  often  very  effective  in 
eradicating  certain  weeds.  Continuous  cropping  and  culti- 
vation change  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil.  This  often 
results,  particularly  in  prairie  regions,  in  the  soil  blowing  and 
drifting.  Rotation  of  crops,  especially N  when  grass  is  intro- 
duced, will  soon  return  the  soil  to  its  proper  physical  condition 
and  prevent  blowing.  There  is  little  profit  in  using  commercial 
fertilizers  unless  rotation  of  crops  is  practiced. 

Comparative  Utility  of  Crop  Rotation. — As  a  rule  the  pioneei 
farmer  in  a  new  country  never  practices  much  rotation  of 
crops.  This  is  one  of  the  factors  of  high  and  intensive  farm- 
ing, which  is  never  found  on  the  frontier.  The  main  reason 
for  this  is  that  land,  being  plentiful,  is  cheap,  while  all  other 
forms  of  capital,  as  well  as  human  labor,  are  comparatively 
scarce  and  high.  It  is  but  natural  for  the  pioneer  to  endeavor 
to  diminish  those  elements  entering  into  the  cost  of  production 
which  are  most  expensive  by  substituting  others  less  expensive. 
Land  is  the  cheapest  factor,  so  he  uses  this  more  lavishly,  not 
to  say  recklessly,  and  saves  the  labor  and  other  capital  re- 
quired to  farm  intensively,  which  is  to  cultivate  more  care- 
fully, to  rotate  and  diversify  crops,  to  keep  stock,  to  fertilize, 
to  irrigate,  and  to  follow  many  other  practices  requiring  addi- 
tional labor  and  capital.  This  fundamental  advantage  of  ex- 
tensive farming  due  to  the  cheapness  and  abundance  of  land 

108 


CROP   ROTATION   AND   IRRIGATION  109 

is  augmented  by  the  fact  that  the  pioneer  usually  is  farming 
a  soil  of  such  virgin  fertility  that  for  a  number  of  years  it  will 
produce  large  crops  in  spite  of  extensive  culture.  Often,  as  has 
been  the  case  in  the  United  States  from  the  very  beginning,  when 
the  soil  Has  lost  its  fertility  so  that  it  will  no  longer  yield 
standard  crops,  the  farmer  leaves  the  solution  of  the  problem 
of  its  further  profitable  culture  to  others  than  himself  by  re- 
moving away  from  it  to  settle  again  upon  virgin  soil,  and  to  re- 
peat there  his  previous  operations.  While  labor  and  all  capi- 
tal except  land  are  higher  in  price  in  a  new  farming  country, 
so  little  capital  is  required  that  its  cost  is  usually  below  the 
cost  of  that  required  in  the  older  country.  In  1860  the  United 
States  was  a  half  century  behind  England  in  intensive  methods 
of  farming,  yet  the  cost  of  production  was  much  lower  for  the 
American  farmers  than  for  the  most  scientific  farmer  of  Eng- 
land, even  if  the  latter  paid  nothing  for  the  use  of  his  land.1 
If  most  of  the  members  of  a  community  are  engaged  in  agri- 
culture, the  supply  of  agricultural  products  is  not  apt  to  fall 
below  the  home  demand.  Where  such  a  large  proportion  of  the 
people  have  an  opportunity  of  producing  at  cost,  home  demand 
is  not  apt  to  raise  the  price  greatly  above  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion of  older  countries,  and  exportation  is  possible.  Exporta- 
tion involves  the  cost  of  transportation.  Under  normal  con- 
ditions then,  prices  must  always  be  lower  at  home  than  abroad 
before  it  will  be  profitable  to  export.  As  long  as  these  condi- 
tions obtain,  it  will  be  impossible  for  prices  of  agricultural 
products  in  a  new  country  (generally  an  exporting  country)  to 
be  as  high  as  those  of  an  older  country.  High  farming  involves 
more  expense  than  extensive  farming,  and  consequently  a 
larger  capital  is  essential.  But  as  prices  cannot  be  so  high  in 
the  newer  community,  and  as  capital  is  not  so  abundant,  it 
follows  directly  and  imperatively  that  farming  cannot  be  of 
such  a  high  and  intensive  grade.  Unfortunately,  however,  as 
is  so  frequently  the  case  with  the  recklessness  of  plenty,  the 
most  loose  and  careless  methods  of  farming  come  in  vogue, 
methods  that  are  certain  to  exhaust  the  soil  to  such  a  degree 
within  a  limited  number  of  years  as  to  necessitate  either  im- 
proved methods  of  culture  or  its  abandonment.  While  there 
may  be  extenuating  circumstances  in  pioneer  times  which  will 
1  8th  U.  S.  Census,  Agriculture,  p.  viii. 


110  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

excuse  extensive  methods  of  farming  when  the  future  must  be 
forgotten  because  of  present  necessities,  when  many  of  the 
advantages  of  an  older  society  are  wanting,  and  when  the 
burden  of  public  improvements  perhaps  falls  comparatively 
more  heavily,  nevertheless  such  a  course  long  pursued  is  not 
only  short  sighted  and  suicidal  from  the  standpoint  of  the  in- 
dividual, but  it  is  also  unjust  to  the  future. 

When  extensive  methods  of  farming  have  once  become  cus- 
tomary, changes  take  place  slowly,  unless  they  are  necessitated 
by  the  growth  of  population  and  the  exhaustion  of  the  land. 
These  conditions  continually  repeat  themselves  in  history,  for 
the  ancients  were  already  well  acquainted  with  intensive 
methods  of  farming. 

Summer  Fallows. — When  land  does  not  produce  the  usual 
crops,  there  is  a  wide  practice  of  letting  it  rest  one  year.  No 
crop  is  planted,  but  the  land  is  generally  cultivated.  This  al- 
most invariably  results  in  an  increase  of  yield  during  succeed- 
ing years.  It  has  been  claimed  that  this  gain  is  at  the  ex- 
pense of  heavy  loss  in  humus  matter  and  available  plant  food.1 
Fallowing  encourages  the  development  of  nitrates.  One  of  its 
greatest  advantages  is  that  it  enables  the  soil  to  store  up  mois- 
ture for  the  wheat  crop  of  the  following  year. 

Historical. — The  farmers  of  ancient  Egypt  rotated  crops. 
The  same  practice  was  followed  in  the  time  of  Virgil,  as  well 
as  the  fallowing  of  land.  The  three-field  system  was  not  new 
in  England  in  Norman  times.  It  consisted  of  wheat  the  first 
year,  barley  or  oats  the  second  year,  and  fallow  the  third  year. 
According  to  Gibbins  crop  rotation  was  not  practiced  in  Eng- 
land in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  the  triennial 
fallow  was  usual  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It 
was  known  as  the  "Virgilian"  way  of  farming.  Clover  and 
lucern  were  introduced  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  brought 
a  new  rotation  of  crops  that  saved  the  wasted  year  during 
which  land  used  to  lie  fallow.  In  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  rotations  were  practiced  which  brought  a  wheat  crop 
every  fourth  or  fifth  year,  or  twice  in  6  years.  The  Japanese 
sowed  the  wheat  in  rows,  and  cultivated  vegetables  between 
the  rows  at  the  same  time,  in  addition  to  raising  other  crops 
before  or  after  the  wheat  crop  on  the  same  ground  during  the 
same  year. 

1  N.  D.  Bui.  24,  p.  73. 


CROP  ROTATION  AND  IRRIGATION  111 

Before  the  twentieth  century,  American  agriculture  con- 
sisted mainly  in  raising  cheap  crops,  and  little  attention  was 
given  to  resulting  effects  upon  the  soil.  After  the  soil  was 
robbed  of  its  fertility,  various  devices  were  resorted  to  in 
order  to  get  a  paying  crop.  The  most  common  of  these  wa^ 
to  seek  new  land,  or  to  give  the  land  a  rest  from  production. 
Reports  from  thousands  of  correspondents  show  that  little  sys- 
tematic crop  rotation  was  practiced  in  the  United  States  even 
as  recently  as  1902.1  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  deterioration  of  the  soil  became  apparent,  particularly  in 
Virginia  and  Maryland,  and  as  early  as  1882  it  was  noticed  that 
the  yield  of  wheat  was  declining  on  account  of  continually  crop- 
ping this  grain  on  the  same  land.  The  most  skilled  farmers  were 
unanimous  in  recommending  rotation  of  crops.  The  most  gener- 
ally advised  rotation  gave  one  wheat  crop  in  three  years.  Under 
the  stress  of  hard  conditions  a  true  conception  of  the  necessity 
of  rotating  crops  gained  a  foothold  and  expanded  into  farm 
practice.  As  would  be  expected,  the  longer\the  occupation,  the 
more  developed  is  the  crop  rotation.  In  passing  from  the  east 
to  the  west,  the  degree  of  rotation  begins  to  diminish  in  Ohio, 
and  by  the  time  Kansas  is  reached,  it  has  practically  disap- 
peared entirely.  One-crop  or  two-crop  production  was  charac- 
teristic of  the  first  agriculture  of  the  north  central  states. 

On  the  Dalrymple  farm  of  North  Dakota  wheat  was  grown 
continuously  for  about  eighteen  years,  by  which  time  the  soil 
had  been  so  impoverished  that  a  system  of  crop  rotation  and 
summer  fallow  became  necessary.  Generally  corn  and  barley 
are  sown  and  cut  early  so  that  the  land  may  be  plowed  in  July 
before  the  wheat  harvest.  Considerable  land  is  also  barren 
summer-fallowed,  in  which  case  it  is  plowed  twice  during  the 
summer.  In  Canada,  experience  with  continuous  cropping  has 
been  much  the  same  as  in  the  United  States.  Large  areas  in 
different  parts  of  the  early  settled  portions  which  once  yielded 
fine  crops  of  wheat  have  been  abandoned  to  pasture  and  other 
purposes. 

Experimentation. — In  experiments  in  North  Dakota,  the  plots 
which  had  been  rotated  with  corn  or  potatoes  yielded  about 
twice  as  much  as  the  best  continuous  wheat  plot.  Good  cultiva- 
tion alone  was  not  sufficient  to  produce  the  best  crops,  and 
1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1902,  p.  520. 


CROP   ROTATION   AND   IRRIGATION  113 

other  crops  gave  a  poorer  yield  on  land  that  had  been  continu- 
ously sown  in  wheat.  "Land  which  produced  three  crops  of 
wheat  and  one  cultivated  crop  in  a  period  of  four  years,  gave 
almost  as  much  wheat  and  more  profitable  returns  than  did  the 
land  which  produced  four  crops  of  wheat  in  succession. ' ' 1  Ex- 
periments have  been  made  in  the  continual  culture  of  wheat  on 
a  certain  piece  of  ground,  there  being  no  fertilizing  of  any 
kind,  as,  for  example,  the  "experimental  acre"  in  Kansas.  This 
trial  was  begun  in  1880,  and  by  1896  the  yield  was  falling  off. 
Permanent  spots  of  diminished  fertility  had  then  appeared. 
Though  they  may  have  been  due  in  part  to  surface-washing, 
partial  exhausting  was  undoubtedly  a  factor.2 

Historic  experiments  in  growing  wheat  continuously  without 
fertilizing  have  been  carried  on  in  England  for  over  50  years. 
"The  yield  has  fallen  to  about  12  or  13  bushels  to  the  acre, 
but  for  the  past  20  years  there  has  been  little  or  no  difference 
in  the  yield,  except  slight  fluctuations  due  to  seasonal  condi- 
tions. So  far  as  is  known,  the  soil  will  produce  12  or  13 
bushels  to  the  acre  annually  for  hundreds  of  years. " 

The  Crop  Rotations  of  the  United  States  now  generally 
practiced  in  some  typical  counties  of  states  leading  or  promi- 
nent in  their  geographical  divisions,  are  given  below: 

Pennsylvania. — Corn,  wheat  two  years,  grass  two  years  (York, 
Franklin,  etc.).  Corn,  oats,  wheat,  grass  three  years  (Chester, 
Westmoreland) . 

Minnesota. — Wheat  two  years,  oats,  wheat,  flax  (Marshall). 
Corn,    wheat   two    years,    oats    (Lac   qui    Parle).     Corn,    wheat   two 
years,  grass  two  years   (Ottertail,  Todd,  etc.). 

Washington.— Wheat,  rest  (Adams). 

California. — Wheat,   rest    (Solano,   San  Joaquin,   etc.). 

Maryland. — Corn,  wheat  two  years,  grass  two  years  (Mont- 
gomery, Frederick,  Talbot,  etc.).  The  rotation  on  dairy  and  stock 
farms  includes  wheat  for  only  one  year. 

Oklahoma. — Wheat  without  rotation  (Grant,  Garfield,  Kingfisher, 
etc.).  Wheat,  corn,  (Dewey).  Wheat  three  years,  oats  (Kay). 

No  crop,  nor  even  any  one  class  of  crops,  such  as  the  cereals, 
should  be  continuously  grown  on  a  soil  that  will  produce  a 
variety  of  crops.  On  ordinary  soils,  cereal  crops  should  be 
rotated  every  two  to  four  years  with  a  leguminous  crop,  such 
as  clover  or  alfalfa.  The  North  Dakota  experiment  station 
finds  that  wheat  should  have  a  good  place  in  the  rotation  be- 
cause it  is  a  particular  crop,  and  that  the  average  yield  of 

1  N.  D.  Bui.   48,  p.  735:  Bui.   39,  p.  458. 

2  Kan.  Bui.   59    (1896),  p.   90. 

3  Indus.  Com.,  10:clxxxviii, 


114  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

wheat  is  greatest  when  the  crop  follows  either  corn  or  potatoes. 
After  these  crops,  placed  in  the  order  that  they  merit  for  pre- 
paring the  soil  for  wheat,  come  summer  fallow,  millet,  vetch, 
peas,  wheat  and  oats.  The  more  dry  and  unfavorable  the  sea- 
son, the  more  important  it  was  to  introduce  a  cultivated  crop 
into  the  rotation.  The  best  rotations  included  a  perennial 
grass,  for  which  purpose  brome  grass  is  well  adapted  to  North 
Dakota.  The  rotations  vary  greatly  in  different  states,  and 
soil,  climate,  and  economic  causes  must  determine  which  ro- 
tations are  most  advantageous  for  any  locality.  Summer  fal- 
lowing is  widely  practiced  on  the  Pacific  coast,  largely  be- 
cause there  is  practically  no  rotation  feasible. 

Crop  Rotations  in  Foreign  Countries. — In  Canada,  summer 
fallowing  is  rapidly  becoming  general  throughout  the  terri- 
tories, where  the  profitable  corn  crops  of  the  United  States 
cannot  be  grown  on  account  of  the  latitude.  The  system  of 
agriculture  most  prevalent  in  Russia  is  the  three-field  system, 
which  is  universally  practiced  in  the  center  of  the  Russian 
wheat  belt.  The  usual  sequence  of  crops  is  winter  rye,  spring 
wheat  and  fallow.  The  arable  land  is  divided  into  three  cor- 
responding parts.  At  a  given  time  each  part  is  in  a  different 
stage  of  the  system.  Other  crops  are  being  introduced,  and 
this  is  lessening  the  area  of  fallow  land.  Among  the  private 
land  owners  this  signifies  progress  in  agricultural  methods. 
Among  the  peasants  it  frequently  signifies  a  harmful  overwork- 
ing of  the  land,  the  penalty  of  which  is  the  drastic 
retribution  of  greatly  reduced  yields.  Another  system, 
still  more  primitive  than  the  three-field  one,  is  also 
found  in  Russia,  especially  in  the  steppes  of  the 
southeast,  where  the  greatest  extension  of  the  wheat  area 
is  taking  place.  By  this  system  the  land  is  tilled  until  it  be- 
comes exhausted.  It  is  then  allowed  to  lie  fallow  in  order  to 
recover  its  fertility.  This  may  require  10,  15,  or  even  30 
years.  In  Archangel,  Olonetz,  Vologda,  Viatka  and  Perm,  the 
forest  must  be  cleared  to  prepare  the  new  land  for  cultivation, 
but  in  the  southeastern  provinces  of  Orenburg  and  Astrakhan, 
in  New  Russia,  Kherson  and  northern  Caucasia,  all  that  is  re- 
quired is  to  plow  the  land.  As  population  grows,  this  wasteful 
method  of  farming  is  being  replaced  by  the  three-field  system. 
Impoverishment  of  the  land  by  continuous  wheat  cropping 


CROP   ROTATION   AND   IRRIGATION  115 

has  been  the  custom  in  Argentina.     Sixty  per  cent  of  t'he  wheat 
is  raised  under  the  renting  system.     The  colonist  owns  nothing 
which  grim  necessity  does  not  compel  him  to  own,  and  he  prac- 
tices his  ruinous  methods  of  farming  until  the  land  is  com- 
pletely  exhausted.     Then  he  fastens   the  bullocks   and   horses 
to  the  carts,  packed  with  his  many  children  and  his  few  mis- 
erable pots,  boxes,  beds  and  implements,  and  travels  until  he 
finds  new  fields.     Mixed  farming  as  known  in  the  United  States 
is  little  understood  or  practiced  in  Argentina,  and  the  farmer 
is  generally  either  a  wheat  grower  or  a  maize  grower.     There 
Is  complaint  of  the  methods  of  farming  in  all  parts  of  the  Re- 
public, however,  and  a  practice  of  rotating  crops  is  already  be- 
ginning, by  alternating  wheat  and  maize,  or  by  planting  the 
land  with  alfalfa  after  three  or  four  years  of  wheat  cropping.1 
For  the  best  crops  of  wheat  in  Egypt,  it  is  sown  every  fifth 
year,  the  rotation  being  (1)   cotton;   (2)   "birsen"   (clover)   or 
"full"   (beans);   (3)  wheat;   (4)  dura  (maize);   (5)  "birsen." 
A  commercial  success  has  been  made  of  growing  wheat  and 
alfalfa  together  on  the  dry  uplands  of  North  Africa.     In  Al- 
geria two  rows  of  wheat  are  sown  4  inches  apart.     A  space  of 
40  inches  is  left  between  the  double  rows,  and  in  this  space 
the   alfalfa  is   sown.     Wheat  is  sown  only  every  other  year. 
This  is  of  interest,  as  alfalfa  is  now  the  greatest  American 
fodder   crop,    especially   in   the    arid   southwest   where   durum 
wheat  is  being  more  extensively  grown. 

Experiments  with  Mixed  Crops  have  been  made,  chiefly  in 
Canada  and  North  Dakota.  Results  seem  to  be  in  favor  of  un- 
mixed grain,  although  wheat  and  flax  have  an  advantage  under 
certain  conditions,  as  when  wheat  is  apt  to  lodge,  or  when  there 
is  a  superabundance  of  moisture.  In  the  latter  case  flax  has 
increased  the  yield  of  wheat  as  much  as  6.5  bushels  per  acre, 
in  addition  to  giving  1.2  bushels  of  flax  per  acre. 

IRRIGATION. 

Historical. — Irrigation  is  of  prehistoric  origin.  Water,  as 
was  shown  in  a  former  chapter,  is  one  of  the  greatest  essen- 
tials of  all  plant  growth,  and  it  is  also  one  of  the  most  variable 
quantities  involved.  Since  the  effects  of  these  variations  upon 
vegetation  appear  quickly,  they  must  have  been  noticed  at  an 
1  U.  S.  Dept.  A§r.,  Bu.  of  Statistics,  Bui.  27  (1904),  pp.  41-42, 


116  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

early  date,  and  then  it  was  only  another  step  to  supply  arti- 
ficially the  needed  water.  Irrigation  was  a  condition  that  was 
indispensable  to  the  settlement  of  large  portions  of  western 
America,  Australia  and  South  Africa.  In  meeting  these  prob- 
lems during  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  had 
its  first  experience  with  extensive  irrigation.  Throughout  all 
the  centuries  of  previous  history,  the  art  of  irrigation  was  quite 
exclusively  the  possession  of  Indian,  Latin  and  Mongolian  races. 
It  was  used  extensively  by  the  ancient  Chinese,  Egyptians, 
Persians  and  by  the  people  of  India.  The  Homeric  Greeks 
used  small  canals  in  irrigating.  In  Italy,  it  was  probably  as  old 
as  the  Etruscans.  The  Romans  borrowed  the  system  from  the 
east,  and  brought  it  to  their  country  and  southern  France.  The 
ancient  Peruvians  also  practiced  it,  and  in  Spain  it  dates  back 
to  the  Iberian  life  existing  under  the  Roman  conquerors. 

Modern  Irrigation  in  Foreign  Countries. — Irrigation  is  more 
or  less  extensively  practiced  by  all  of  the  great  nations  of  the 
globe,  even  in  subhumid  and  humid  regions.  As  a  rule,  how- 
ever, the  wheat  crop  is  not  extensively  irrigated,  for  irrigation 
is  more  profitable  with  other  crops.  The  total  area  watered 
runs  into  millions  of  acres  in  most  of  the  European  nations. 
Wheat  is  frequently  irrigated  in  the  Po  valley.  In  Mexico, 
Argentina  and  Australia,  wheat  is  irrigated  to  some  extent. 
Both  streams  and  wells  furnish  the  water.  Extensive  systems 
have  been  planned  for  Australia,  and  over  1,000,000  acres  could 
be  irrigated  in  New  South  Wales  alone.  Argentina  contains 
large  areas  which  are  irreclaimable  except  by  irrigation.  The 
lower  valley  of  the  Nile  with  its  delta  comprises  another  great 
irrigation  system,  6,000,000  acres  being  under  cultivation. 
Egypt  is  so  arid  that  dry  farming  is  impossible.  In  1902 
British  enterprise  completed  a  dam  across  the  Nile  at  Assuan. 
It  is  built  of  granite,  and  is  70  feet  high,  23  feet  wide  at  the 
top,  82  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  l1/^  miles  long.  It  is  the 
largest  irrigation  dam  in  existence,  and  the  reservoir  has  a 
storage  capacity  of  over  thirty  billion  cubic  feet.  The  largest 
increase  in  irrigated  area  in  recent  years  has  been  made  in 
British  India,  where  about  30,000,000  acres  have  been  re- 
claimed or  made  secure  for  cultivation  by  constructing  new  sup- 
ply works.  It  has  been  estimated  that  80,000,000  acres  more 
can  be  reclaimed  in  India,  In  1892  over  $150,000,000  had  been 


CROP  ROTATION  AND  IRRIGATION"  117 

invested,  and  yielded  a  large  profit,  though  it  was  often  ob- 
tained indirectly.  India  has  the  largest  reservoir  in  the  world. 
It  covers  an  area  of  21  square  miles,  and  it  was  constructed  for 
irrigating  in  Rajputana.  It  is  known  as  the  great  tank  of 
Dhebar. 

Irrigation  in  the  United  States. — In  America,  the  town-build- 
ing Pueblo  Indian  tribes  practiced  irrigation  perhaps  a  thou- 
sand or  more  years  ago.  Their  ditches  and  canals  can  still  be 
traced  in  the  little  valleys  near  the  mesas  of  southwestern  Colo- 
rado and  adjacent  portions  of  Utah,  Arizona  and  New  Mexico, 
where  the  cliff  dwellings  are  found,  as  well  as  across  the  bor- 
der valleys  through  which  are  scattered  numerous  ruins  of 
community  dwellings.  Their  knowledge  of  engineering  is  evi- 
dent, and  remarkable.  Careful  levels  have  been  run  over 
several  miles  of  their  canals.  The  grade  was  found  to  be 
fairly  uniform  and  suited  to  a  canal  of  such  dimensions,  as 
well  as  in  accord  with  present  day  knowledge  of  hydraulics, 
safe  velocities  and  coefficients  of  friction.  While  these  well 
defined  remains  of  ancient  irrigation  works  have  long  out- 
lived the  civilization  to  which  they  belonged,  there  are  cases 
where  they  have  been  utilized  in  modern  works.  The  ditches  at 
Las  Cruces,  New  Mexico,  have  been  used  uninterruptedly  for 
over  300  years.  Some  70  years  before  the  settlement  of  James- 
town, the  Spaniards  irrigated  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Adventurous 
mission  fathers  pushed  on  to  California,  carrying  the  art  of 
irrigation  with  them. 

The  beginnings  of  irrigation  by  English-speaking  people  in 
this  country  were  in  the  Salt  Lake  valley  of  Utah,  in  July, 
1847.  The  Mormon  pioneers,  driven  out  from  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri, stopped  from  necessity  on  the  shores  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake.  They  diverted  the  waters  of  the  little  canyon  streams 
upon  the  present  site  of  Salt  Lake  City,  so  that  they  might 
raise  a  crop  from  the  very  last  of  their  stock  of  potatoes  and 
save  the  band  from  starvation.  At  about  the  same  time  water 
for  irrigation  was  drawn  from  the  ditches  used  for  placer 
mining  by  the  gold  miners  of  California.  After  the  stoppage 
of  hydraulic  mining  by  the  passage  of  anti-debris  laws,  the 
ditches  were  either  abandoned  or  used  exclusively  for  irrigation. 
Many  were  enlarged  and  are  still  used. 


118 


THE    BOOK    OP    WHEAT 


The  Extent  of  Wheat  Irrigation  in  1899  is  shown  in  the  table 
below  i1 


Acreage 

Production 

Total 

Irrigated 

%  Irri- 
gated 

Total 

Irrigated 

%  Irri- 
gated 

Arizona  
California  
Colorado  
Idaho  
Montana  
Nevada  
New  Mexico  .. 
Oregon  
Utah 

24,377 
2,683,405 
294,949 
266,305 
92,132 
18,537 
37,907 
491,258 
189  235 

24.137 
161,086 
247,644 
82,708 
37,710 
18,246 
36,638 
16,092 
108  630 

99.0 
6.0 
84.0 
31.1 
40.9 
98.4 
96.7 
3.3 
57  4 

440,252 
36,534,407 
5,587,770 
5,340  180 
1,899,683 
450,812 
603,303 
7,280,443 
3  413,470 

436,582 
1,649,455 
5,309,350 
1,799,028 
843,143 
448  ,802 
589,185 
387,201 
2,554,248 

99.2 
4.5 
95.0 
33.7 
44.4 
99.6 
97.7 
5.3 
74  8 

Washington... 
Wyoming  
Nebraska 

1,073,827 
19,416 

14,204 
14,753 
14  143 

1.3 
76.0 

20,817,753 
348,890 

328,958 
288,180 
185,481 

1.6 
82.6 

Total  

5,391,348 

761,848 

14.1 

82,716,963 

14,634,132 

17.7 

While  considerable  wheat  is  irrigated  in  some  states,  practi- 
cally all  that  is  grown  in  them,  yet  the  average  per  cent  of 
irrigated  wheat  in  all  the  irrigating  states  is  relatively  small, 
only  14  per  cent.  Excluding  California  and  Washington,  where 
much  wheat  is  raised  and  little  irrigated,  this  rises  to  36.5  per 
cent;  17.7  per  cent  of  the  wheat  produced  is  irrigated,  com- 
pared to  14.1  per  cent  of  the  acreage.  On  this  basis  which, 
however,  takes  no  account  of  differences  in  soil,  rainfall  and 
climate,  the  yield  in  these  states  would  be  increased  over  25 
per  cent  if  all  the  wheat  were  irrigated. 

The  Problems  of  Irrigation  in  our  country  are,  and  have  been, 
along  two  general  lines:  Agricultural  and  engineering;  and 
legal  and  social.  Of  these  two  lines,  the  latter  has  presented 
the  greatest  difficulties.  Litigation  and  controversy  have  been 
a  menace  and  a  source  of  loss  to  many  communities  because  no 
institutions  existed  for  adequately  defining,  limiting  and  pro- 
tecting water  rights.  The  claims  of  navigation  came  into 
conflict  with  those  of  irrigation.  When  streams  flowed  through 
more  than  one  state,  interstate  difficulties  arose.  Some  of  these 
are  the  basis  of  a  suit  by  the  state  of  Kansas  against  the  state 
of  Colorado. 

Work  at  the  solution  of  either  class  of  problems  has  been 
immensely  handicapped  by  a  most  lamentable  lack  of  knowledge 
»  12t,h  U,  &  Census,  6;825-870> 


CROP  ROTATION   AND  IRRIGATION  119 

of  certain  essential  facts  and  conditions.  Among  these  are 
existing  water  supply,  quantity  required  to  grow  crops,  losses 
from  seepage  and  evaporation  in  distribution,  character  of  the 
control  over  streams  already  vested,  and  measures  of  adminis- 
tration requisite  for  an  equitable  and  effective  division  of  water 
supply  among  a  multitude  of  users.  Such  unforeseen  results 
as  alkali  lands  and  seepage  waters,  formerly  secondary  consid- 
erations, are  now  often  the  most  primary  problems.  Such  irri- 
gation as  could  easily  be  accomplished  with  simple  means  inde- 
pendent of  co-operative  institutions  has  largely  been  effected. 
As  the  work  extended,  greater  problems  arose,  claims  became 
hopelessly  conflicting  and  united  effort  under  institutional  ad- 
ministration became  an  imperative  condition  of  advantageous 
development. 

Water  Supply. — There  are  two  sources  of  water  for  irriga- 
tion: Surface  waters,  such  as  streams  and  lakes,  and  subter- 
ranean waters.  The  former  supply  over  90  per  cent  of  the 
irrigated  land.  There  are  three  ways  of  obtaining  underground 
waters:  By  pumping  from  wells;  by  driving  tunnels  into  the 
sides  of  hills  and  mountains;  and  by  using  flowing  wells.  Ar- 
tesian areas  are  widely  scattered,  and  individually  they  are  of 
small  size,  except  in  the  Dakotas  and  California.  In  1889, 
51,896  acres,  or  1.4  per  cent  of  the  irrigated  land,  were  irrigated 
from  wells.  In  14  irrigating  states  there  were  8,097  wells,  near- 
ly half  of  which  were  used  in  irrigation.  Each  well  supplied 
on  an  average  13  acres,  had  a  depth  of  210  feet  and  discharged 
54  gallons  per  minute;  169,644  acres  were  irrigated  from  wells 
in  1899.  Underground  waters  seem  to  be  present  very  gener- 
ally. It  is  claimed  that  there  is  not  a  farm  of  160  acres  upon 
the  great  plains  region  without  the  requisite  moisture  absolutely 
needed  for  from  10  to  30  acres  of  tillable  ground.1  The  aver- 
age depth  of  water  applied  to  crops  in  1899  was  4.35  feet,  and 
in  1900,  4.13  feet. 

Application  to  Crops. — The  two  principal  methods  of  irriga- 
tion are  by  flooding  and  through  furrows.  The  former  is  gen- 
erally used  in  growing  grain.  There  are  two  methods  of 
flooding,  the  check  system  and  by  wild  flooding.  By  the  latter 
process  a  level  field  is  completely  submerged.  When  the  ground 
is  not  level  enough  for  this,  the  field  is  divided  into  compart- 
1  Hiaton,  Kept,  on  Irriga.,  Cong,  serial  No,  2899,  part  I,  p.  & 


120 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


ments  by  ridges.  The  highest  compartment  is  flooded  to  the 
top  of  the  ridge,  which  is  then  opened  on  the  lower  side.  The 
water  thus  passes  into  the  next  compartment,  and  this  pro- 
cedure is  continued  until  all  the  compartments  are  irrigated. 
If  the  land  is  properly  prepared  and  irrigated  before  the 
wheat  is  sown,  two  subsequent  irrigations  will  make  a  good 
crop.  When  the  soil  is  thus  used  as  a  storage  reservoir,  in 
parts  of  Kansas  and  California  no  irrigation  is  needed  between 
planting  and  harvesting. 

Alkali. — Arid   region  soils   are   usually  rich   in  mineral  in- 
gredients.    This   is   because   such   soils   originated   in  the   de- 


THE    FURROW    METHOD     OF     IRRIGATING 


composition  of  rocks  in  regions  where  the  rainfall  is  too  scanty 
to  wash  out  the  soluble  elements  as  in  humid  regions.  The 
soluble  salts  are  naturally  distributed  throughout  the  soil,  and 
are  not  harmful  until  the  application  of  irrigation  water.  They 
are  then  leached  out  of  the  higher  grounds  and  concentrated 
in  the  lower  lands.  Evaporation  tends  to  bring  them  to  the 
surface.  Many  irrigation  waters  also  contain  much  salt  in  so- 
lution, which  results  in  a  further  deposition  of  salt.  The  result 
of  these  factors  is  often  ruinous  to  vegetation.  Many  thou- 
sands of  acres  have  been  thus  rendered  unfit  for  cultivation  in 
the  United  States,  and  the  agricultural  industries  of  59  vil- 
lages in  India  were  wholly  or  partly  destroyed  by  the  rise  of 


CROP  ROTATION  AND  IRRIGATION  111 

alkali  previous  to  1864.  Water  containing  over  1,000  parts  of 
salt  in  a  million  has  been  used  without  injury.  Most  of  the 
artesian  wells  of  Dakota  have  a  salt  content  much  higher  than 
this,  and  the  effects  of  irrigating  three  or  four  years  with  this 
water  rendered  wheat  lands  of  the  Red  river  valley  almost 
wholly  unsuited  to  raise  current  crops.1  The  most  effective 
method  of  removing  alkali  from  land  is  by  underdrainage  and 
flooding. 

The  Cost  of  Irrigation  in  the  United  States  as  shown  by  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  census  is  as  follows: 

Average  values  per  acre 
1889  1899 

Irrigated  land   $83.28  $42.53 

Water  right   26.00 

Annual  cost   1.07  0.38 

First  cost  of  water  rights    8.15  7.80 

A  rise  in  values  would  be  expected,  instead  of  a  fall,  as  good 
lands  with  water  supply  were  scarce  in  1899,  and  those  lands 
were  first  irrigated  which  required  least  labor  and  capital.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  a  perpetual  water  right  in  a  grain 
country  is  worth  from  $25  to  $50  per  acre.  The  cost  of  irri- 
gation from  many  of  the  original  ditches  was  as  low  as  $2  to 
$5  per  acre.2 

The  Semi-Arid  Region  of  the  United  States.— There  are  men 
still  living  who  knew  the  Mississippi  valley  as  a  wilderness. 
For  several  generations  a  popular  American  slogan  has  been 
" westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way/'  and  the  rapid- 
ity with  which  the  fertile  lands  of  the  great  river  valleys  were 
brought  under  cultivation  has  been  almost  incredible.  As  this 
huge  wave  of  immigration  swept  across  the  prairie  to  the  great 
plains,  it  encountered  the  subhumid  belt  as  a  buffer  between  the 
humid  and  the  arid  regions.  Gradually  the  settlements  pro- 
ceeded westward  from  the  abundantly  watered  Mississippi  and 
lower  Missouri  valleys,  and  pushed  into  the  well  defined  sub- 
humid  slope  which  rises  progressively  toward  the  Rockies. 
These  virgin  lands,  bordering  upon  the  greatest  wheat  raising 
region  of  the  world,  and  fully  as  fertile,  since  they  were  not 
washed  by  frequent  rains,  were  a  continual  temptation  to 

1  Mon.  TT.  S.  Geol.  Sur.,  25:546-547. 

2  Indus.  Com.,  10:xxxii. 


122  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

carry  the  "  empire "  yet  farther  west.  The  "  Great  American 
Desert"  disappeared  from  the  maps.  During  a  series  of  years 
in  which  the  rainfall  was  more  adequate  than  usual,  the  agri- 
cultural areas  leaped  forward  to  the  west  from  county  to 
county.  The  first  general  advance  was  in  1883.  Within  five 
years,  western  Kansas  and  Nebraska  and  eastern  Colorado  were 
largely  settled.  To  the  east  of  the  arid  region  is  a  strip  of  ter- 
ritory embracing  portions  of  Kansas,  Nebraska,  the  Dakotas 
and  northwestern  Texas,  which  has  been  designated  as  the 
"rain  belt."  Its  name  resulted  from  the  theory  that  the  humid 
region  was  gradually  extending  itself  toward  the  west  as  a 
consequence  of  the  breaking  of  the  prairie  sod,  the  laying  of 
railroad  and  telegraph,  and  the  advent  of  civilization.  There 
was  supposed  to  be  a  progressive  movement  of  the  "rain  belt" 
as  civilization  advanced.  While  thorough  cultivation  undoubt- 
edly makes  a  material  modification  in  the  effects  of  a  given  de- 
gree of  aridity,  it  has  been  declared  that  the  probability  of  a 
perceptible  change  in  climate  does  not  merit  serious  discussion. 

The  theory  received  a  serious  setback  from  the  periodical 
exodus  which  occurred  when  succeeding  years  brought  a  rainfall 
at  or  below  the  normal.  There  were  years  when  the  average 
rainfall  (10  to  20  inches)  decreased  by  almost  half;  there 
were  months  without  a  cloud;  there  were  days  in  the  southwest 
when  the  winds  were  so  dry  and  hot  that  green  corn  was  turned 
into  dry  and  rattling  stalks.  When  crops  shriveled  and  died  on 
millions  of  acres,  men  lost  hope  and  means,  and  they  were 
forced  to  abandon  the  homes  that  represented  the  earnings  of  a 
lifetime.  Whole  counties  were  nearly  depopulated.  These 
vicissitudes  caused  the  tide  of  migration  to  ebb  and  flow,  and 
continually  wore  out  its  resources.  The  desert  had  been  re- 
moved from  the  maps.  The  supplications  of  the  devout  and 
the  dynamite  of  the  "rainmaker,"  a  suggestion  of  the  Indian 
medicine  men  who  had  held  sway  on  the  plains  less  than  a 
century  before,  had  vainly  implored  the  heavens  for  the  rain 
which  alone  was  wanting  for  the  production  of  profitable  crops. 
Yet  the  blunt  fact  remained,  and  still  remains,  that  many  mil- 
lions of  acres  were  dead,  vacant,  and  profitless  simply  because 
of  their  aridity.  This  land  has  little  value  now,  for  in  many 
places  a  whole  section  does  not  yield  enough  to  keep  a  fleet- 
footed  sheep  from  starving. 


CROP   ROTATION   AND   IRRIGATION  123 

South  of  Yellowstone  park  in  the  Wind  river  mountains  of 
Wyoming  rises  Mount  Union  in  majestic  grandeur.  Three 
streams  take  their  course  from  this  peak — the  Missouri,  the 
Columbia  and  the  Colorado.  Embraced  in  the  branching  arms 
of  these  streams  is  the  industrial  future  of  a  region  greater  in 
extent  than  any  European  nation  save  Russia.  Could  this  vast 
district  be  reclaimed  for  settlement,  it  would  be  a  task  second 
to  none  in  the  realm  of  social  economics,  for  here  millions  of 
people  could  find  homes.  Within  this  region  is  contained  prac- 
tically all  that  remains  of  the  public  domain.  The  only  ele- 
ment lacking  to  make  the  land  valuable  is  moisture.  New  in- 
fluences are  at  work  to  remedy  this,  the  bitter  failures  of  20 
years  ago  have  been  largely  forgotten,  and  a  second  wave  of 
settlement  is  sweeping  over  the  plains.  Rather  slowly  and  un- 
willingly public  attention  became  fixed  upon  irrigation.  While 
the  water  supply  is  sufficient  to  irrigate  only  a  small  fraction 
of  the  arid  domain,  approximately  three-fourths  of  a  billion 
acres,  several  million  acres  are  already  under  irrigation,  and 
there  is  a  good  prospect  that  many  more  millions  will  be  irri- 
gated in  the  future.  At  present  this  area  forms  potentially  the 
best  part  of  our  national  heritage.  Although  most  of  the  land 
would  be  typical  for  raising  wheat,  and  the  completion  of  the 
irrigation  works  which  the  government  now  has  under  way  will 
add  millions  of  bushels  to  the  annual  production  of  wheat,  the 
better  adaptability  of  other  crops  to  intensive  cultivation  under 
irrigation  will  doubtless  soon  render  it  unprofitable  to  irrigate 
wheat  extensively.  The  introduction  of  irrigation  will  make 
possible  the  growing  of  diversified  crops  in  some  sections  where 
wheat  alone  can  now  be  profitably  raised.  Where  the  supply  of 
water  is  insufficient  for  irrigation,  the  only  remedy  is  the  devel- 
opment of  drought  resistant  crops  for  dry  farming.  One  of  the 
greatest  of  these  is  durum  wheat.  If  there  is  water  enough  to 
irrigate  but  one  acre  of  ground  on  the  dry  farm,  this  will  make 
a  green  oasis  with  shade  and  foliage  for  the  farmer 's  home,  a 
pleasant  contrast  to  the  monotony  of  the  gray  and  dusty  sum- 
mer plains  with  their  shimmering  waves  of  heat. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
FERTILIZERS 

Fertilizing  consists  in  the  physical  application  to  the  soil  of 
elements  which  are  immediately  or  mediately  available  for  plant 
food,  or  which  aid  in  changing  from  unavailable  to  available 
forms  of  plant  food  any  elements  already  existing  in  the  soil. 
It  is  meant,  of  course,  to  exclude  water,  the  contribution  of 
which  is  irrigation,  but  any  elements  held  in  suspension  or  so- 
lution by  irrigation  waters,  and  falling  under  the  conditions  of 
the  definition,  are  fertilizers. 

Historical — The  Homeric  Greeks  were  familiar  with  the  use 
of  manure  as  a  fertilizer.  Cato  mentions  irrigation,  frequent 
tillage  and  manuring  as  means  of  fertilizing  the  soil.  To  these 
Virgil  adds  ashes.  The  ancient  Peruvians  were  skillful  in  the 
application  of  manure,  a  practice  that  has  existed  in  parts  of 
Russia  from  time  immemorial.  The  earliest  records  on  agri- 
culture show  that  the  value  of  fertilizing  had  already  been 
taught  by  experience.  The  degree  to  which  intensive  cultivation 
had  developed,  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  inciden- 
tal occurrence  of  materials  that  could  be  used  as  fertilizers 
have  always  been,  in  general,  the  factors  determining  the  extent 
of  the  practice. 

NATURAL  FERTILITY. 

Soil  Composition  and  its  Relation  to  Plant  Life.— From  a 
physical  point  of  view  the  soil  of  the  field  may  be  analyzed  as 
follows:  (1)  The  soil  proper,  consisting  of  various  sizes  and 
arrangements  of  grains  made  up  of  insoluble  or  imperfectly 
soluble  minerals;  (2)  humus,  more  or  less  decomposed  organic 
matter  derived  from  the  decay  of  former  animal  and  plant  life ; 

(3)  the  soil  moisture,  covering  the  soil  grains,  and  containing 
in  solution  a  varying  amount  of  the  soluble  soil  constituents; 

(4)  the  soil  atmosphere,  differing  from  air  in  composition  to 
some  extent,  and  usually  saturated  with  water  vapor;  and  (5) 
soil  ferments,  or  bacteria,  which  so  permeate  the  soil  that  it 

124 


FERTILIZERS  125 

should  be  considered  as  a  living  mass  and  not  as  dead,  inert 
matter.  Indeed,  the  inanimate  parts  of  the  soil  have  their  high- 
est significance  as  the  environment  of  the  bacteria  which  they 
contain,  and  in  part  nourish. 

To  understand  the  effect  and  value  of  fertilizers,  a  knowledge 
of  the  chemical  and  physical  composition  of  soils,  and  of  the  re- 
lation of  their  composition  to  plant  growth  is  essential.  These 
things  must  be  clearly  understood,  because  fertilizers  act  upon 
the  plant  indirectly  through  their  influence  upon  the  compo- 
sition of  the  soil. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  Sir  Humphrey 
Davy  said  that  the  substances  which  constitute  the  soil  "are 
certain  compounds  of  the  earths,  silica,  lime,  alumina,  magnesia 
and  of  the  oxides  of  iron  and  magnesium ;  animal  and  vegetable 
matters  in  a  decomposing  state,  and  saline,  acid  or  alkaline  com- 
binations. ' ' 1 

He  also  fully  understood  that  the  soil  furnished  nourishment 
for  the  plants,  and  that  different  plants  flourish  best  in  different 
soils.  While  he  described  the  soil  elements,  often  with  sur- 
prising accuracy,  and  was  the  most  expert  chemist  of  his  time, 
he  did  not  adequately  appreciate  the  plant  foods  contained  by 
the  soil,  and  his  conception  of  the  functions  of  the  elements 
which  he  described  was  often  extremely  vague.  For  example, 
he  held  that  the  silica  which  plants  contain  imparts  to  them 
their  rigidity.  He  recognized  in  a  general  way,  however,  that 
phosphoric  acid,  potash  and  lime  enter  into  the  composition  of 
plants,  and  he  successfully  combated  many  unscientific  notions. 
The  derivation  of  soils  from  rocks  was  also  known  in  his  time. 

Mineral  or  artificial  manures  were  first  studied  systematically 
by  Liebig,  whose  views  found  their  way  into  the  United  States 
before  the  middle  of  the  century.  The  publication  of  his  work 
in  1840  marked  a  new  era  in  agricultural  chemistry.  Before 
his  time  it  was  very  generally  held  that  organic  substances  were 
the  chief  food  of  plants.  This  has  been  called  the  humus 
theory.  It  was  rejected  by  Liebig,  who  went  to  the  opposite 
extreme  and  held  that  organic  matter  has  no  part  in  plant  life. 
Practical  knowledge  of  the  use  of  manures,  wood  ashes,  slaugh- 
terhouse refuse,  gypsum,  lime  and  plaster  as  fertilizers  was 
widely  diffused  and  acted  upon  before  the  time  of  Liebig,  but 
1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1899,  p.  203. 


126  THE    BOOK    01?    WHEAT 

it  required  his  work  to  bring  about  a  full  appreciation  of  plant 
requirements  and  of  the  important  office  of  the  soil.  Through 
the  vehement  discussions  of  his  work,  Boussingault,  Lawes, 
Gilbert  and  others  were  led  to  a  critical  study  of  these  problems. 
The  exact  needs  of  plants  for  mineral  nutrients  were  carefully 
investigated  by  means  of  experiments  of  water-culture  and  sand- 
culture.  This  work  was  carried  on  by  the  foreign  experiment 
stations  between  1865  and  1873,  and  its  results  contributed  very 
materially  to  the  subsequent  development  of  the  enormous  in- 
dustry of  manufacturing  and  selling  commercial  fertilizers. 

With  prophetic  vision  Liebig  said:  "Manufactories  of  ma- 
nure will  be  established  in  which  the  farmer  can  obtain  the 
most  efficacious  manure  for  all  varieties  of  soils  and  plants. 7 ' * 
Systematic  work  in  the  chemical  analysis  of  soils  in  the  United 
States  began  in  1850,  when  D.  D.  Owens  made  an  extensive 
chemical  examination  of  the  soils  of  Kentucky  in  connection 
with  its  geological  survey.  The  most  recent  developments  seem 
to  show  that  the  amount  and  proportion  of  the  elements  con- 
tained by  the  soil  are  of  less  importance  than  was  formerly 
supposed.  It  is  of  far  greater  importance  that  such  elements 
as  are  present  should  be  in  a  form  available  for  plant  food. 
Just  what  form  an  element  must  assume  to  be  most  available 
seems  to  be  in  a  large  measure  an  unsolved  problem  yet,  but 
evidently  the  texture  and  the  structure  of  the  soil  are  fully  as 
important  as  the  chemical  condition  of  its  elements.  By  texture 
is  meant  the  relative  sizes  of  soil  grains,  and  by  structure  the 
arrangement  of  these  grains  under  field  conditions.  After  ex- 
haustive investigations  on  many  types  of  soil,  the  conclusion  has 
been  reached  "that  on  the  average  farm  the  great  controlling 
factor  in  the  yield  of  crops  is  not  the  amount  of  plant  food  in 
the  soil,  but  is  a  physical  factor,  the  exact  nature  of  which  is 
yet  to  be  determined." 

Most  of  the  fertilizing  which  has  been  done  has  been  accord- 
ing to  the  theory  that  the  soil  is  a  lifeless  mass  composed  of  so 
many  elements,  and  that  some  elements  were  absent,  or  not 
present  in  sufficiently  large  proportions,  it  being  the  object  to 
contribute  in  the  form  of  fertilizer  the  elements  which  were 
needed.  While  the  benefits  of  fertilizers  have  been  unquestioned 

1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1899.  p.  340. 

2  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Soils,  Bui.  22   (1903),  p.  63. 


FERTILIZERS  .  127 

for  over  a  century,  it  is,  nevertheless,  doubtful  whether  quite 
the  right  path  has  been  followed  by  investigations  which  en- 
deavored to  determine  just  how  those  benefits  arose.  Air  and 
soil  are  the  media  through  which  the  growing  plant  receives  its 
nourishment,  but  this  is  more  than  a  mere  mechanical  process. 
In  some  cases  at  least  there  must  be  some  sort  of  digestion  or 
decomposition  of  foods  before  there  can  be  assimilation.  Silica, 
highly  insoluble  and  apparently  the  least  suited  of  all  the  min- 
eral constituents  of  the  earth  to  enter  the  vital  organism  of  the 
plant,  however  finds  its  way  into  the  plant  tissues.  Phos- 
phorus, one  of  the  most  important  mineral  foods  of  plants,  exists 
in  the  soil,  or  is  applied  in  fertilizers,  almost  exclusively  in  the 
form  of  mineral  phosphates,  but  appears  in  the  plant  largely 
in  organic  combination,  while  the  mineral  phosphates  which  do 
appear  are  not  those  which  pre-existed  in  the  soil,  such  as 
those  of  lime,  iron  and  alumina,  but  chiefly  those  of  potash.  It 
is  also  found  that  soils  of  different  composition,  texture  and 
structure  supply  different  quantities  of  water  to  the  plant,  irre- 
spective of  the  percentage  of  water  actually  present  in  the 
soil.  As  water  conveys  the  nutritive  solutions  to  the  plant, 
when  the  supply  of  water  is  inadequate,  there  may  also  be  a 
deficiency  of  nutrient  materials.  It  is  probable,  then,  that  ferti- 
lizers, by  temporarily  increasing  the  concentration  of  the  so- 
lution, increase  the  food  supply.  Such  fertilizers  seldom  per- 
manently affect  the  nature  of  the  solution,  and  the  concentration 
with  respect  to  the  mineral  plant  food  constituents  per  unit  of 
solution  is  considered  approximately  constant.  In  the  same 
and  in  different  soils,  however,  the  water  content  varies  widely, 
and  usually  the  greater  the  water  content,  the  more  diluted  is 
the  solution. 

In  1902  such  exceedingly  delicate  and  sensitive  methods  for 
analyzing  soils  in  the  field  were  devised  that  "the  amounts  of 
nitrates,  phosphates,  sulphates  and  the  like,  which  may  be  pres- 
ent, as  indicated  by  water  solutions,  can  be  determined  to 
within  four  or  five  pounds  per  acre  one  foot  deep. ' '  Fertilizers 
applied  in  the  spring  can  be  traced  from  the  place  of  applica- 
tion down  through  the  different  depths  of  the  soil  which  they 
invade.  Much  progress  has  been  made  toward  determining  by 
analysis  the  fertilizers  needed  by  a  particular  soil. 


FERTILIZERS  129 

Humus. — Opinion  as  to  the  value  of  humus  to  plants  has,  pen- 
dulum like,  swung  to  extremes.  According  to  the  early  alche- 
mists, decaying  animal  and  vegetable  substances  yielded  their 
spirits  to  the  new  plants.  Many  of  the  earlier  chemists  be- 
lieved that  the  larger  part  of  the  materials  entering  the  growing 
crop  was  supplied  by  humus.  The  net  result  of  the  combined 
labors  of  DeSaussure,  Boussingault,  Dumas  and  Liebig  on  this 
problem  was  to  demonstrate  that  plants  obtain  most  of  their 
food  from  the  air,  and  particularly  that  part  which  was  sup- 
posed to  be  furnished  by  humus.  Subsequently  to  this,  humus 
was  supposed  to  have  a  low  value,  but  it  is  now  known  to  per- 
form many  functions  of  the  greatest  consequence  in  plant 
growth.  A  certain  amount  of  humus  is  essential  to  the  proper 
physical  condition  of  the  soil.  Besides  influencing  tilth,  per- 
meability and  weight  of  soils,  it  facilitates  drainage  and  pre- 
vents baking  and  cracking.  Humus  increases  the  power  of  the 
soil  to  absorb  and  retain  moisture  and  renders  it  more  friable 
and  mellow.  It  supplies  nitrogenous  plant  food  and  aids  in 
making  mineral  plant  foods  and  fertilizers  more  available  and 
effective.  It  also  lessens  the  danger  of  the  winterkilling  of 
wheat,  and  it  furnishes  food  for  the  myriads  of  bacteria  which 
live  in  all  fertile,  aerated,  moist  and  warm  soils. 

The  best  method  of  keeping  an  adequate  humus  supply  in  the 
soil  is  to  grow  clovers  and  grasses  in  the  crop  rotation  and  plow 
under  all  plant  refuse.  Leguminous  inter-  or  cover-crops  can 
sometimes  be  grown  advantageously  after  the  main  crop  of  the 
year  is  gathered,  such  crops  being  plowed  under  in  the  fall 
or  spring  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  humus  for  the  next 
crop.  These  inter-crops  also  tend  to  prevent  plant  food  from 
leaching  out  of  the  soil  between  crops.  Among  the  best  humus 
furnishing  crops  to  be  grown  thus  are  soy  beans  and  cowpeas, 
but  even  rye  may  be  used. 

As  to  the  amount  of  humus  contained  in  dried  soils,  those  from 
the  Red  river  valley  contained  4.82  per  cent,  those  between 
the  Snake  and  Pelouse  rivers,  6.4  per  cent,  those  near  Walla 
Walla,  Washington,  4.8  per  cent,  and  those  of  Missouri  4  per 
cent.  Many  of  the  soils  of  the  south  are  deficient  in  organic 
matter.  The  native  prairie  soil  of  the  Red  river  valley  was  very 
rich  in  humus,  but  the  amount  has  been  greatly  depleted  by 
continuous  wheat  growing.  The  soil  humus  can  be  increased 


130  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

by  diversified  farming.  To  keep  the  soils  in  the  best  physical 
and  chemical  condition,  such  a  system  of  rotation  should  be 
practiced  as  will  include  both  humus  producing  and  humus  con- 
suming crops.  Leguminous  crops  seem  to  have  a  marked  effect 
in  increasing  the  organic  matter  in  the  soil. 

Soil  Moisture. — A  considerable  amount  of  work  was  done  on 
every  type  of  soil  during  1902  by  the  bureau  of  soils.  As  a 
result,  soil  moisture  is  now  looked  upon  as  a  great  nutritive 
solution  which  has  approximately  the  same  composition  every- 
where, and  can  vary  only  within  narrow  limits  if  plant  de- 
velopment is  to  be  successful.  It  is  thought  that  the  kind  of 
crop  adapted  to  a  soil  is  largely  determined  by  its  physical 
characteristics,  while  yield  is  more  influenced  by  chemical 
characteristics.  The  dissolved  salt  content  of  soils  seems  to 
be  only  a  minor  factor  in  determining  the  yield  and  quality 
of  crops,  the  wide  differences  observed  on  different  soils  being 
mainly  due  to  other  factors.  "It  appears,  further,  that  prac- 
tically all  soils  contain  sufficient  plant  food  for  a  good  crop 
yield,  that  this  supply  will  be  indefinitely  maintained,  and 
that  this  actual  yield  of  plants  adapted  to  the  soil  depends 
mainly,  under  favorable  climatic  conditions,  upon  the  cultural 
methods  and  suitable  crop  rotation,  a  conclusion  strictly  in 
accord  with  the  experience  of  good  farm  practice  in  all  coun- 
tries.7' It  seems  that  a  chemical  analysis  of  a  soil,  even  if 
made  by  extremely  delicate  and  sensitive  methods,  will  in  itself 
give  no  indication  of  soil  fertility.  If  the  probable  yield  of  a 
crop  can  be  determined  at  all,  it  is  likely  to  be  by  physical 
methods.1 

BACTERIA. 

Bacteria  and  Nitrification. — For  cereal  crops  a  previous  legu- 
minous crop  is  practically  equivalent  to  the  application  of  a 
nitrogenous  fertilizer.  In  effect  this  was  known  by  the  Romans 
2,000  years  ago.  Many  theories  were  advanced  to  explain  the 
beneficial  effects  of  a  leguminous  crop,  but  the  true  explanation 
was  not  found  until  1886,  when  Hellriegel  convinced  the  entire 
scientific  world  that  bacteria  cause  and  inhabit  the  root  nodules 
of  leguminous  plants,  and  that  the  symbiotic  relation  between 
*  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Soils,  Bui.  22  (1903),  p.  64* 


FERTILIZERS  131 

these  bacteria  and  the  plants  enables  the  latter  to  feed  in- 
directly upon  the  limitless  and  costless  store  of  free  atmo- 
spheric nitrogen. 

Nitrogen  is  one  of  the  most  costly  and  important  of  all 
plant  foods  and  most  crops  remove  large  quantities  of  it  from 
the  soil.  This  applies  with  especial  force  to  the  wheat  crop. 
The  commercial  supply  is  so  limited  that  a  "nitrogen  famine" 
had  already  been  predicted,  but  the  discovery  of  nitrogen- 
gathering  bacteria  seems  destined  to  lead  to  the  utilization  of 
air  nitrogen  at  a  nominal  cost.  Plants  normally  obtain  through 
their  roots  nitrogen  in  some  highly  organized  form.  All  non- 
leguminous  plants  placed  in  soil  entirely  destitute  of  nitrogen 
will  wither  and  die.  Bacteria  alone  have  this  power  of  fixing 
nitrogen.  Not  only  have  these  bacteria  increased  the  nitrogen 
content  of  soils  planted  with  leguminous  crops,  but  it  is  now 
claimed  that  for  many  centuries  they  have  been  continually  fix- 
ing atmospheric  nitrogen  in  certain  regions  of  Chile  and  Peru, 
thus  creating  the  extensive  deposits  of  nitrate  of  soda  there 
found  in  a  natural  state. 

Men  realized  the  increasing  importance  of  the  nitrogen  prob- 
lem as  the  supply  decreased,  and  it  was  but  natural  for  scien- 
tists to  turn  to  atmospheric  nitrogen  in  an  endeavor  to  replen- 
ish the  stores  being  so  rapidly  depleted,  especially  when  they 
remembered  that  nearly  eight-tenths  of  the  air  is  nitrogen,  and 
that  plants  are  able  to  obtain  all  their  carbon  from  a  gas 
constituting  only  0.1  per  cent  of  the  air.  During  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  bacteriologists  have  made  numerous  ex- 
periments which  have  thrown  much  light  upon  the  subjects  of 
nitrification,  denitrification,  and  the  fixation  of  free  nitrogen 
in  the  soils.  It  has  been  found  that  the  soil  is  alive  with 
countless  micro-organisms.  The  activity  of  some  of  these  fer- 
ments favors,  while  that  of  others  retards,  plaait  growth.  One 
group  carries  on  the  process  of  nitrification,  and  another  that 
of  denitrification.  In  the  latter  process  the  nitrates  are  broken 
down,  deprived  of  their  oxygen,  and  reduced  to  ammonia  or 
nitrogen  gas.  Nitrates  thus  lose  their  availability  for  plant 
food.  Great  losses  in  manures  may  often  occur  from  this 
source.  It  is  the  part  of  scientific  agriculture  to  determine 
how  to  minimize  the  activity  of  inimical 


132  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

Bacteria  providing  nitrogenous  food  for  plants  seem  to  be 
of  three  classes.  One  of  these  works  on  the  nitrogen  con- 
tained by  the  soil  humus,  and  comprises  three  genera,  each  of 
which  has  an  essential  function  in  reducing  nitrogen  to  a 
form  available  as  plant  food.  Another  class  develops  symbi- 
otically  with  the  growing  plants,  swarming  in  colonies  upon  the 
rootlets.  Their  vital  activity  oxidizes  atmospheric  nitrogen. 
The  third  class  apparently  secures  the  same  result  without 
symbiosis. 

Efforts  were  made  to  inoculate  soils  with  artificial  pure  cul- 
tures of  the  third  class  and  thus  increase  the  nitrogen  content 
without  the  aid  of  manure  or  mineral  fertilizer.  While  some 
very  successful  experiments  were  made,  the  percentage  of  fail- 
ures was  too  great  for  practical  purposes.  The  root  tubercle 
bacteria  seem  to  give  the  greatest  promise  of  success.  All  of 
those  which  have  yet  had  any  practical  importance  were  found 
exclusively  on  the  roots  of  legumes.  Some  cultures  of  these 
organisms,  known  as  nitragin,  were  placed  upon  the  market  a 
few  years  ago  by  German  experimenters.  They  were  adapted 
to  specific  crops  only,  for  it  was  claimed  that  each  kind  of 
leguminous  plant  had  a  special  germ  which  was  more  success- 
ful upon  it  than  any  other  form.  There  were  so  many  fail- 
ures that  the  manufacture  of  nitragin  was  abandoned. 

Previous  to  1902  the  United  States  department  of  agricul- 
ture inaugurated  extensive  practical  experiments  in  an  effort 
to  find  improved  methods  of  soil  inoculation.  The  reasons  for 
the  failure  of  the  German  pure  culture  method  were  worked 
out.  Improved  ways  of  handling  and  preserving  pure  cultures 
were  discovered,  as  well  as  means  of  rapidly  and  enormously 
increasing  them  after  they  were  received  by  the  farmer. 
Great  progress  was  made  toward  developing  an  organism  effect- 
ive for  all  legumes,  and  the  virility  of  the  bacteria  was  so  in- 
creased that  they  fixed  over  five  times  as  much  nitrogen  as 
formerly.  When  the  department  could  send  in  perfect  condi- 
tion to  any  part  of  the  United  States  "a,  dry  culture,  similar 
to  a  yeast  cake  and  no  larger  in  size,"  the  nitrogen-fixing 
bacteria  of  which  could  be  "multiplied  sufficiently  to  inoculate 
at  least  an  acre  of  land,"  the  prospects  of  an  early  and  com- 
plete solution  of  the  nitrogen  problem  seemed  to  have  a  rosy 
hue  indeed. 


FERTILIZERS  133 

In  spite  of  the  great  progress  that  has  been  made,  however, 
there  has  been  little  to  encourage  the  hope  of  directly  increas- 
ing the  nitrogen  supply  of  the  soil  for  the  wheat  crop  by 
means  of  bacteria.  The  more  practical  solution  seems  to  be 
the  indirect  one  of  growing  in  rotation  with  wheat  leguminous 
crops  aided  by  artificial  cultures.  Success  in  this  has  been 
pronounced  and  practical.  In  1904  the  United  States  depart- 
ment of  agriculture  made  a  very  extensive  experiment  with 
artificial  inoculation  of  leguminous  crops.  About  12,500  tests 
were  made  under  all  sorts  of  conditions  and  in  almost  all  of 
the  states  in  the  union;  74  per  cent  of  the  tests  properly  made 
proved  successful.1  Not  only  was  nitrogen  thus  fixed  in  avail- 
able form  for  subsequent  grain  crops,  but  the  leguminous  crops 
sometimes  yielded  five  times  as  much  as  non-inoculated  ones 
grown  under  similar  conditions,  the  usual  increase  ranging  from 
15  to  35  per  cent.  One  result  of  the  success  of  the  experiment 
was  a  demand  for  cultures  far  beyond  what  the  department 
could  supply.  A  great  improvement  was  made  in  1906  by 
abandoning  dry  cultures  for  pure  liquid  cultures  hermetically 
sealed  in  glass  tubes. 

Perhaps  the  best  method  of  distributing  and  applying  the 
organisms  is  by  inoculating  the  seed  of  the  legumes  used. 
This  way  is  thoroughly  effective  and  costs  but  a  few  cents  per 
bushel  of  seed  treated.  One  gallon  of  liquid  culture  will  inocu- 
late 2  bushels  of  seed.  Soil  may  be  inoculated  and  then  dis- 
tributed as  fertilizer  would  be,  or  earth  may  be  transferred 
from  a  field  containing  the  bacteria.  Both  of  these  methods 
are  expensive,  less  certain  of  success,  and  weeds  or  pests  may 
be  transferred  with  the  soil. 

The  nitrifying  bacteria  are  parasitic  plants  that  penetrate 
the  roots  of  legumes  to  obtain  food  carbohydrates.  After  the 
roots  are  from  2  to  4  weeks  old,  the  bacteria  are  unable  to 
enter  them.  It  is  now  known  that  tubercle  formation  is  not 
essential  to  successful  inoculation,  and  that  the  bacteria  may 
be  present  in  an  efficient  state  in  the  absence  of  tubercles.2 
Humid  soil  and  a  temperature  of  60  to  80°  F.  are  most  favor- 
able to  the  growth  of  soil  bacteria,  35°  F.  being  the  lowest, 
and  98°F.  the  highest  temperature  at  which  growth  is  possible. 


1  Bu.  of  Plant  Industry,  Bui.  70,  p.  41. 

2  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1904,  p.  49. 


134  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

Denitrifying  organisms  thrive  best  in  a  soil  at  least  slightly 
organic,  and  so  packed  as  to  exclude  the  oxygen  of  the  air. 
The  nitrifying  bacteria  are  unable  to  develop  in  organic  mat- 
ter, but  its  presence  to  some  extent  is  not  fatal  to  them.  The 
presence  of  nitrogenous  substances  has  a  deleterious  effect  upon 
the  cultures  of  nitrifying  bacteria,  which  seem  to  fix  atmo- 
spheric nitrogen  only  in  the  absence  of  plenty  of  nitrogen  in 
the  soil,  consequently  little  benefit  is  to  be  obtained  from  in- 
oculating soils  containing  a  good  supply  of  nitrogen.  Most  of 
the  nitrifying  germs  seem  to  exist  in  the  first  foot  of  soil, 
while  few,  if  any,  exist  at  a  greater  depth  than  18  inches. 
Other  bacteria,  such  as  those  which  change  the  sulphur  and 
the  iron  compounds,  also  exist  in  the  soil. 

APPLIED  FERTILIZERS. 

Need,  Time  and  Application  of  Fertilizers. — Nearly  all  wheat 
land  that  is  under  continual  cultivation,  even  if  crop  rotation 
is  practiced,  yields  larger  returns  when  fertilizers  are  properly 
used.  In  each  individual  case  local  conditions  and  the  economic 
position  of  the  wheat  grower  must  determine  to  what  extent  it 
is  advantageous  to  fertilize.  Each  farmer  must,  in  a  large 
measure,  learn  by  experience  whether  the  application  of  a  cer- 
tain fertilizer  is  profitable  under  his  circumstances.  It  is  now 
well  known  that  yield  does  not  increase  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  plant  food  applied,  and  that  the  increase  in  straw 
is  greater  than  that  in  grain.  In  determining  the  value  of  such 
application,  it  must,  of  course,  be  remembered  that  more  than 
one  crop  is  benefited.  The  wheat  crop  may  be  increased  either 
by  direct  fertilizing  or  by  the  residual  effect  of  fertilizers  ap- 
plied to  other  crops  in  the  rotation.  The  composition  and 
condition  of  the  soil  determine  the  relative  importance  of  dif- 
ferent fertilizing  constituents.  Phosphoric  acid  used  alone 
generally  increases  the  yield  of  wheat  grown  anywhere  on  the 
glacial  drift  area  of  the  United  States.1  Either  nitrogen  or 
potash  applied  alone  does  not  seem  to  increase  the  yield  great- 
ly, while  the  application  of  both  with  phosphoric  acid  gives  the 
greatest  gain.  A  fertilizer  that  can  usually  be  found  on  the 
market  is  one  containing  4  per  cent  each  of  ammonia  and  potash 
1  Hunt,  Cereals  in  Amer,  (1904),  p.  75 


FERTILIZERS  13D 

and  12  per  cent  of  available  phosphoric  acid.  By  applying 
from  250  to  500  pounds  of  this  commercial  fertilizer  per  acre 
the  best  general  results  are  obtained.  If  land  has  been  quite 
exhausted  by  continuous  wheat  growing,  the  proportion  of  ni- 
trogen and  potash  should  be  greater.  Commercial  fertilizers 
are  best  applied  by  means  of  an  apparatus  made  for  this  pur- 
pose and  attached  to  the  wheat  drill.  They  may  also  be  broad- 
cast just  in  front  of  the  drill.  In  the.  case  of  winter  wheat, 
most  of  the  nitrogen  is  often  applied  early  in  the  spring  so  as 
to  prevent  loss  through  drainage  during  the  winter. 


THE     COMBINED     GRAIN     AND     COMMERCIAL     FERTILIZER     DRILL 

Kinds  of  Fertilizers. — These  naturally  fall  into  two  classes, 
barnyard  manure  and  commercial  fertilizers.  It  is  only  on 
farms  where  the  supply  of  manure  is  not  adequate  to  preserve 
a  high  state  of  soil  fertility  that  commercial  fertilizers  are 
economical.  In  general  farming  the  former  has  the  greatest 
relative  value  on  account  of  individual  or  combined  physical, 
chemical  and  bacterial  influences  not  yet  fully  understood.  Con- 
sidering equal  weights,  however,  most  commercial  fertilizers  con- 
tain more  plant  food  than  manure  does.  It  is  also  claimed  that 
when  applied  to  wheat  they  will  produce  larger  returns.  Never- 
theless, the  lower  cost  of  farm  manure  always  makes  its  use 
more  profitable  than  that  of  other  fertilizers.  Where  both  are 


136  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

used,  it  is  most  profitable  to  apply  the  manure  to  crops  grown 
in  the  rotation,  such  as  maize,  and  to  apply  the  commercial 
fertilizers  directly  to  the  wheat  crop. 

Manure. — It  is  claimed  that  the  soils  of  China  have  been 
in  continuous  cultivation  for  more  than  4,000  years  without 
falling  off  in  productiveness,  and  that  the  continued  soil  fer- 
tility is  due  to  the  utilization  of  all  animal  manures  and  of 
sewage.  During  the  eleventh  century  in  France,  stable  ma- 
nure was  unknown  as  a  fertilizer,  though  flocks  of  sheep  were 
used  for  this  purpose.  Stable  manures  were  utilized  in  the 
medieval  husbandry  of  England,  and  they  have  been  used  to 
great  advantage  in  France  and  Germany  for  over  a  century. 

In  America  manure  has  always  been  utilized  as  a  fertilizer 
by  progressive  farmers,  but  it  has  also  been  looked  upon  as 
a  farm  nuisance.  It  has  been  charged  with  producing  dog 
fennel  and  various  other  weeds,  and  with  "poisoning"  the 
soil.  In  parts  of  Oregon  and  South  Dakota  it  has  been  burned, 
sometimes  for  fuel.  It  has  been  hauled  into  ravines  in  Cali- 
fornia, into  the  creek  in  Oklahoma,  into  a  hole  in  the  ground 
or  to  the  side  of  the  field  in  Kansas,  to  the  roadside  in  Mis- 
souri, to  great  piles  in  North  Dakota  and  Idaho,  and  to  the 
river  in  the  Mohawk  valley.1  It  is  estimated  that  the  farmers 
of  the  United  States  annually  lose  over  $7,000,000  by  per- 
mitting barnyard  manure  to  go  to  waste.  As  the  ferti- 
lizing value  of  the  manure  annually  produced  by  the  farm  ani- 
mals of  the  United  States  is  calculated  at  over  two  billion 
dollars,  it  must,  however,  be  very  generally  utilized,  a  fact 
which  does  not  excuse  the  foolish  and  useless  waste.  The  fer- 
tilizing value  of  the  average  amount  produced  yearly  is  esti- 
mated for  each  horse  at  $27,  for  each  head  of  cattle  $19,  for 
each  hog  $12,  and  for  each  sheep  $2.  The  amounts  of  ferti- 
lizing constituents  in  the  manure  stand  in  direct  relation  to 
those  in  the  food  of  the  animal,  and  have  a  ratio  to  them 
varying  in  value  from  one-half  to  unity. 

Experiments  have  shown  that  equal  weights  of  fresh  and  of 
rotted  manure  have  equal  crop-producing  powers.  As  60  per 
cent  of  the  weight  is  lost  in  the  rotting  process,  manure  should 
be  used  in  fresh  condition.  ' '  Barnyard  manure  contains  all  the 

1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1902,  p.  529;  Industrial  Commission 
J0:clxxxviii.  ( 


FERTILIZERS  137 

fertilizing  elements  required  by  plants  in  forms  that  insure 
plentiful  crops  and  permanent  fertility  to  the  soil.  It  not  only 
enriches  the  soil  with  the  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid  and  potash, 
which  it  contains,  but  it  also  renders  the  stored-up  materials  of 
the  soil  more  available,  improves  the  mechanical  condition  of 
the  soil,  makes  it  warmer,  and  enables  it  to  retain  more  mois- 
ture or  to  draw  it  up  from  below."  It  has  a  forcing  effect 
when  fresh. 

Barnyard  manure  rapidly  undergoes  change  and  deteriora- 
tion. The  latter  results  mainly  from  two  causes:  (1)  Fermen- 
tation, and  (2)  weathering  or  leaching.  Losses  from  leaching 
may  be  prevented  by  storage  under  cover  or  in  pits,  while 
proper  absorbents  and  preservatives,  such  as  gypsum,  super- 
phosphate and  kainit,  will  almost  entirely  prevent  destructive 
fermentation.  The  manure  should  be  kept  moist  and  compact. 
The  loss  is  less  in  deep  stalls  than  in  covered  heaps.  The  fer- 
tilizing constituents  of  well  rotted  manure  are  more  quickly 
available  to  plants  than  those  of  fresh  manure,  and  the  former 
should  be  used  when  prompt  action  is  desired.  In  the  wheat 
lands  of  California  manure  is  more  or  less  visible  for  four  or 
five  years  after  its  application  to  the  land,  and  in  the  semi-arid 
region  it  must  be  used  cautiously  on  unirrigated  land.  The 
light  soils  of  the  Pacific  coast  lack  the  moisture  requisite  for 
the  absorption  of  wheat  straw  plowed  under,  and  consequently 
it  must  be  burned.  This  wastes  the  nitrogen  element  of  the 
straw,  but  saves  the  ash  ingredients  for  the  land.  Land  treat- 
ed with  stable  manure  for  6  years  gave  an  increase  of  60 
per  cent  in  the  yield  of  wheat.  Ten  tons  has  been  given  as  a 
reasonable  amount  to  apply  to  one  acre  of  wheat  land. 

Guano. — The  first  shipload  of  Peruvian  guano  was  imported 
by  England  in  1840.  Two  years  later  a  company  was  organized 
to  trade  regularly  in  this  substance.  From  1.5  to  2  cwt.  per 
acre  of  wheat  was  harrowed  in  with  the  seed.  In  the  United 
States  it  quickly  gained  in  popular  favor.  By  1876  the  trade 
was  regulated  by  national  treaties,  and  millions  of  dollars 
were  engaged  in  its  transportation.  Peruvian  guano  was  used 
chiefly  for  its  ammonia.  The  later  guanos  of  the  West  Indies 
were  rich  in  phosphates,  and  of  greater  advantage  to  some 
crops  than  the  Peruvian.  Guano  was  also  one  of  the  principal 
1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1895,  p.  570. 


138  THE    BOOK    OP    WHEAT 

sources  of  nitrogen.  Most  of  the  guano  beds  are  now  complete- 
ly exhausted. 

Phosphoric  Acid. — The  four  main  sources  of  this  are: 
(1)  Bones;  (£)  phosphatic  deposits  like  those  of  South  Caro- 
lina, Florida,  Tennessee,  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  in  the 
United  States,  or  the  keys  of  the  Carribean  sea;  (3)  accumu- 
lation of  fossil  and  excrementitious  material;  and  (4)  Thomas 
slag,  a  by-product  of  the  smelting  of  iron  ores.  Bones  were 
used  to  a  limited  extent  in  England  before  1810.  They  were 
ground  until  Liebig  made  the  discovery  of  preparing  super- 
phosphate of  lime  by  dissolving  bones  in  sulphuric  acid.  One 
bushel  of  bone  dust  dissolved  by  one-third  its  weight  of  the 
acid  is  superior  as  a  manure  to  four  bushels  of  bone  dust.  The 
lime  of  the  bones  is  converted  into  gypsum,  and  the  phosphoric 
acid  is  reduced  to  a  state  more  easily  soluble  and  assimilable. 
Formerly  bones  were  also  often  burned. 

In  1817  superphosphates  were  first  manufactured  in  Eng- 
land, and  the  first  phosphate  mined  commercially  in  South 
Carolina  was  in  1867,  six  tons.  The  earliest  form  of  mineral 
phosphate  used  for  fertilizer  was  apatite.  In  Canada  10  years' 
experience  has  shown  that  finely  ground,  untreated  mineral 
phosphate  has  no  value  as  a  fertilizer.  The  Bessemer  process 
of  manufacturing  steel  gives  a  by-product,  rich  in  phosphoric 
acid,  "produced  by  the  union  of  the  phosphorus  of  the  iron 
with  the  lime  of  the  flux  employed."  This  is  reduced  to  a 
fine  powder  and  applied,  without  treatment,  to  the  soil.  It 
contains  from  15  to  20  per  cent  of  the  acid.  The  yield  of 
wheat  seems  to  be  little  affected  by  the  carrier  or  source  of 
phosphoric  acid  if  the  material  used  is  finely  ground.  Some 
30  to  60  pounds  of  the  acid  should  be  applied  to  an  acre  of 
land. 

Lime. — It  has  been  claimed  that  this  is  one  of  the  first 
mineral  elements  to  show  depletion.  Sourness  of  soil  often 
results.  To  correct  this  and  supply  lime,  20  to  40  bushels  of 
lime  per  acre  may  be  used.  Lime  has  a  tendency  to  work 
down,  and  should  never  be  deeply  plowed  under.  It  can  be 
applied  to  the  soil  most  advantageously  prior  to  the  planting 
of  maize  in  the  rotation,  for  wheat  does  not  seem  to  be  directly 
benefited  by  it.  If  it  is  applied  directly  to  wheat,  it  should  be 
scattered  over  the  plowed  field  a  few  days  before  seeding  and 


FERTILIZERS  139 

at  once  harrowed  in.  The  ground  should  be  stirred  again  be- 
fore seeding.  The  application  of  one  ton  per  acre  every  4  to  6 
years  is  advised  for  Illinois  uplands. 

Marl. — This  consists  essentially  of  carbonate  of  lime.  Often 
considerable  amounts  of  organic  matter,  sand  and  clay  are  also 
present.  It  originated  in  the  breaking  down  of  fresh  water- 
shells.  Its  action  is  more  slow  and  "mild"  than  that  of  lime. 
It  has  been  "regarded  rather  as  an  amendment  than  a  ferti- 
lizer." Its  chief  functions  are  in  improving  the  tilth,  neutral- 
izing acidity,  and  promoting  nitrification,  besides  supplying 
lime.  The  marls  of  New  Jersey  also  contain  potash  and  phos- 
phoric acid. 

Nitrate  of  Soda. — Trade  in  this  as  a  fertilizer  began  between 
1830  and  1840.  The  supply  is  limited.  In  1860  all  estimates 
showed  that  it  would  last  nearly  1,500  years.  By  1900  these 
estimates  had  fallen  to  less  than  50  years,  and  the  world's 
markets  were  annually  consuming  nearly  1,500,0,00  tons,  the 
United  States  requiring  about  15  per  cent  of  this  amount.  It 
is  by  far  the  most  expensive  fertilizer  in  use,  and  it  is  the  best 
carrier  of  nitrogen. 

Potash. — The  main  sources  are  wood  ashes,  and,  since  1860, 
the  products  furnished  by  the  potash  industry  at  Stassfurt, 
Germany.  Several  forms  are  imported  from  Germany,  each 
containing  a  different  but  correctly  warranted  quantity  of  this 
fertilizer.  Nearly  500,000  tons  are  imported  annually  by  the 
United  States.  This  is  over  half  the  product.  Since  1860,  the 
Stassfurt  salts  have  been  almost  the  only  source  of  concentrated 
potash.  Good  wood  ashes  contain  perhaps  10  per  cent  of  pot- 
ash. They  were  long  used  without  the  real  reason  of  their  value 
being  known.  Besides  potash,  ashes  often  contain  consider- 
able lime.  Hartlib  gave  23  fertilizers  and  means  of  fertilizing 
the  ground,  and  among  them  were  included  lime,  marl,  ashes 
and  chalk. 

Gypsum  or  Land  Plaster. — Those  who  are  experimenting  with 
this  material  report  varied  results.  It  has  long  been  used, 
however,  and  the  most  reliable  conclusions  seem  to  be:  (1) 
That  gypsum  has  undoubted  fertilizing  value  on  many  soils; 
(2)  that  its  chief  value  depends  on  three  processes:  (a)  Pres- 
ervation of  ammonia  and  perhaps  other  nitrogenous  forms; 


140  THE    BOOK    OP   WHEAT 

(b)  decomposing  potash  and  phosphorus-bearing  silicates,  liber- 
ating these  two  elements  for  plant-food;  (c)  affecting  soils 
physically,  making  them  granulated,  or  loose  and  mellow;  (3) 
and  that  it  decomposes  sodium  carbonate  and  thus  breaks  up 
the  so-called  "black-alkali." 

Common  Salt.— This  has  also  been  used  as  a  fertilizer  for  at 
least  several  decades.  In  the  eighties  it  was  a  common  prac- 
tice in  England  to  sow  salt  in  the  early  spring  on  wheat  land 
that  was  too  rich,  the  idea  being  that  a  larger  deposit  of  silica 
in  the  stalk  would  result,  enabling  the  wheat  to  stand  better. 
While  it  has  been  found  a  valuable  agent  for  increasing  the 
yield  of  barley,  it  is  of  less  importance  in  raising  wheat. 

Miscellaneous  Fertilizers. — A  great  many  other  materials  have 
been  used  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  as  fertilizers.  Among  them 
are :  Animal  products,  as  wool  waste  and  the  refuse  of  modern 
slaughterhouses,  blood,  bone,  hair,  horn,  hoof,  etc.,  which 
with  fish,  manure  and  sulphate  of  ammonia  from  the  gas  works, 
are  still  the  main  sources  of  nitrogen  applied  to  crops;  swamp 
muck,  marsh  mud,  sea-weed,  sludge,  poudrette,  potassium,  cot- 
tonseed meal,  rape-cake,  burnt  clay,  charred  peat,  soot  and 
green  manuring  crops.  The  latter  are  simply  plowed  under,  a 
practice  widely  followed  in  the  United  States,  especially  with 
alfalfa  and  other  legumes.  Where  stock  can  be  raised,  green 
crops  and  cottonseed  meal  have  nearly  as  great  a  value  for  fer- 
tilizer after  feeding  as  before,  and  yield  the  additional  inter- 
mediate product  of  milk  or  beef. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  aborigines  taught  the  early 
settlers  of  New  England  the  value  of  fish  as  a  fertilizer.  Fish 
or  fish  waste  should  be  composted.  Quicklime  is  used  in 
France.  Fish  compost  readily  yields  its  elements  to  growing 
crops,  consequently  it  should  be  applied  in  the  spring,  and  not 
deeply  covered.  Sludge  is  the  precipitant  of  sewage,  and 
poudrette  is  the  same  reduced  to  a  dry  powder.  A  part  of  their 
value  lies  in  the  germs  of  nitric  ferment  which  they  contain. 
Some  40  tons  of  wheat  straw  leached  and  burned  on  the  soil 
contribute  to  it  8  pounds  of  phosphorus  and  680  pounds  of 
potassium,  besides  the  nitrogen  leached  into  the  soil  before  the 
straw  was  burned.  This  immensely  increases  the  yield  of  wheat. 
Mulching  with  straw  does  not  seem  to  be  of  any  benefit  to 
wheat,  whether  applied  for  fertilizing  or  for  winter  protection. 


FERTILIZERS 


141 


Fertilizing  by  Irrigation. — To  show  the  fertilizing  value  of 
irrigation  waters,  some  analyses  are  given  below. 

COMPOSITION    OF   IRRIGATION   WATER. 

Results  expressed  in  parts  per  1,000,000 


1 

•| 

13 
'o 

OT 

JO 

1 

I  J 

.0 

< 

Description 

Jo 

o 

03 

"w 

o 

'H 

,_ 

'3 

0} 

•%* 

<u 

<u 

a 

'w 

^5 

"o 

s* 

.y 

D  C 

rt 

0 

0 

•a 

3 

0 

c/3 

J 

.§ 

AH 

AH 

w 

w 

Middle  Creek1  

77.0 

24.0 

15.8 

0.9 

22.6 

6.1 

0.41 

0.8 

3.7 

0.34 

Yellowstone  River1.  .. 

96.0 

32.0 

11.2 

1.1 

21.0 

8.3 

0.41 

1.9 

22.1 

17.0 

Missouri  River1  

221.0 

64.0 

18.9 

3.1 

52.8 

18.1 

0.22 

1.9 

30.0 

21.9 

Shields  River1  

186.0 

34.0 

6.8 

1.3 

74.5 

15.0 

0.35 

0.14 

18.0 

20.0 

Bozeman  Creek1  

117.0 

31.0 

20.2 

1.5 

32.2 

12.8 

0.44 

0.9 

6.3 

3.4 

Nile  River2 

1700.0 

3.4 

10.2 

The  waters  of  the  Nile  seeni  to  have  the  largest  amount  of 
nitrogen,  1.7  per  cent,  all  the  others  having  merely  a  trace. 
Some  24  acre-inches  of  Rio  Grande  water  add  to  the  soil  about 
1,075  pounds  of  potash,  116  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and 
107  pounds  of  nitrogen.  The  same  amount  of  Delaware  river 
water  contains  741.08  pounds  of  materials,  while  the  Mississippi, 
St.  Lawrence,  Amazon  and  La  Plata  rivers  average  655.6  pounds 
of  solid  matter  for  every  24  acre-inches.  As  a  rule  sewage 
waters  from  the  cities  have  the  highest  value  for  irrigation, 
and  muddy  river  waters  stand  next.  Waters  containing  sul- 
phate of  iron  are  positively  injurious  when  applied  to  land. 
They  usually  issue  from  peaty  or  boggy  swamps.  While  the 
fertilizing  value  of  sewage  waters  is  unquestioned,  and  while 
their  use  has  been  almost  universally  favored,  objections  have 
been  made  to  them  on  other  grounds.  To  say  the  least,  they 
undoubtedly  contain  a  hidden  danger,  and  if  used  at  all,  it 
should  be  with  the  greatest  of  care.  It  has  been  claimed  that 
"the  use  of  sewage  for  fertilizing  purposes  is  not  to  be  com- 
mended because  of  the  danger  of  contaminating  the  soil  with 

1  Kept.  Mont.  Exp.  Sta.,  1902,  p.  62. 

a  Exp.  Sta.  Record,  V.  14,  No.  11,  p.  1057. 


142  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

pathogenic  ferments,  which  may  subsequently  infect  the  health  of 
man  and  beast.  These  ferments  may  attach  themselves  to  veg- 
etables and  thus  enter  the  animal  organism,  or  they  may  remain 
with  a  suspended  vitality  for  an  indefinite  period  in  the  soil  and 
awaken  to  pernicious»activity  when  a  favorable  environment  is 
secured." 

Vast  stores  of  fertilizing  materials  are  continually  being 
washed  from  the  earth  by  floods,  and  carried  away  by  streams 
and  rivers.  The  Seine  river  thus  annually  carries  two  million 
tons  of  silt,  a  greater  weight  than  the  merchandise  which  its 
waters  transport.  The  Yar  carries  seaward  yearly  23,000  tons 
of  nitrogen,  and  one  cubic  meter  of  water  per  second  from  this 
stream  could  be  made  to  produce  crops  valued  at  35,000  francs 
each"  year.  The  river  Durance,  an  Alpine  stream,  annually 
carries  silt,  the  fertilizing  power  of  which  is  equal  to  100,000 
tons  of  stable  compost  or  excellent  guano.  It  would  take 
119,000  acres  of  forest  trees  to  yield  the  carbon  that  this  volume 
of  silt  contains. 

FERTILIZER   EFFECTS 

Effect  on  Germination. — In  general,  fertilizers  never  seem  to 
aid  in  the  germination  of  seeds,  and  may  be  harmful  if  used  in 
large  quantities.  One  per  cent  of  muriate  of  potash,  or  of 
sodium  nitrate,  is  very  detrimental,  whether  applied  directly, 
or  mixed  with  the  soil.  Phosphoric  acid  and  lime  are  much  less 
injurious,  and  may  be  harmless  if  not  used  in  excess.  It  is 
safest  not  to  bring  commercial  fertilizers  into  immediate  con- 
tact with  germinating  seeds,  and  the  effect  of  chemicals  applied 
to  seeds  before  they  are  planted  is  no  index  of  their  action  in 
this  respect  when  used  as  fertilizers.  When  injury  does  re- 
sult, it  is  chiefly  to  the  young  sprouts  during  the  time  between 
when  they  leave  the  seed  coat  and  when  they  emerge  from 
the  soil,  the  seed  being  affected  but  slightly,  if  at  all.  Salts 
injurious  to  wheat  seedlings  have  been  given  in  the  following 
order:  Magnesium  sulphate,  magnesium  chlorid,  sodium  car- 
bonate, sodium  sulphate  and  sodium  chlorid.  Different  varie- 
ties of  wheat  vary  in  their  ability  to  resist  the  same  toxic  salt, 
as  does  also  one  variety  in  different  salts. 

Effect  on  Yield  and  the  Supply  of  Plant  Food.— There  seems 
to  be  a  certain  minimum  yield  of  wheat  which  a  soil  will  give 


FERTILIZERS  143 

under  continuous  cropping  and  ordinary  cultivation,  and  this 
yield  can  be  increased  by  rotation  of  crops,  and  still  more  by 
improved  methods  of  cultivation.  Fertilizing  is  also  a  factor 
which  generally  increases  the  yield,  whether  utilized  by  itself, 
or  in  conjunction  with  other  factors.  The  use  of  commercial 
fertilizers  must,  however,  be  accompanied  by  intensive  methods 
of  cultivation  in  order  to  be  profitable,  and  now  and  then  the 
returns  seem  to  diminish  with  continued  use.  Mr.  Whitney, 
chief  of  the  bureau  of  soils  in  the  United  States  department  of 
agriculture,  maintains  that  he  never  saw  a  case  of  soil  exhaus- 
tion which  was  probably  due  to  the  actual  removal  of  plant 
food.  He  considers  the  so-called  worn-out  soils  of  the  United 
States  due  to  conditions  which  make  the  plant  food  unavailable, 
and  holds  that  the  primary  object  of  fertilizing  is  the  adaptation 
of  soils  to  any  desired  crop  or  crops.  Fertilizing  can  also  be 
practiced  to  force  growth,  even  on  rich  soil.  Texture  and 
drainage  of  soils  can  be  improved,  the  ratio  of  soil  constituents 
balanced,  and  acidity  neutralized.  Attention  is  called  to  the 
facts  that  "the  soils  of  India,  which  tradition  says  have  been 
cultivated  for  2,000  years,  under  primitive  methods,  without 
artificial  fertilizing,  still  give  fair  returns.  In  Egypt,  lands 
which  have  been  cultivated  since  history  began  are  as  fertile  as 
ever.  In  Europe  there  are  records  of  cultivation  of  soils  for 
500  years.'71 

Tradition  is  not  always  scientific,  however,  and  soil  is  not 
greatly  taxed  by  such  primitive  methods  of  culture  as  have  ex- 
isted in  India  for  2,000  years.  The  sediment  which  is  de- 
posited by  the  waters  of  the  Nile  at  every  annual  overflow  is 
entirely  adequate  to  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  cultivated 
lands  of  Egypt,  while  fertilizing,  improved  methods  of  culti- 
vation, and  crop  rotation  have  greatly  increased  the  yield  of 
European  soils.  On  some  of  the  fields  in  France  28  bushels  of 
wheat  are  raised  per  acre  where  17  bushels  were  raised  50 
years  ago.  The  soil  of  France  is  more  fertile  today  than  it  was 
in  the  time  of  Cresar.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  in  Germany  has 
increased  proportionately.  In  England,  land  on  which  wheat 
was  grown  continuously  for  50  years  without  fertilization  yield- 
ed 12  to  13  bushels  per  acre,  while  adjacent  plots  to  which  fer- 
tilizers were  applied  averaged  about  30  bushels  per  acre.  Mr. 
1  Industrial  Commission,  10:  clxxxviii,  cxcii. 


144  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

Whitney  takes  the  position  that  if  the  soils  of  eastern  and 
southern  United  States  have  any  less  plant  food  than  when 
first  cultivated,  they  at  least  have  all  the  ingredients  essential 
for  crop  production.  This  position  is  certainly  supported  by 
statistics  that  have  been  given  on  the  amount  of.  plant  food 
contained  by  soils.  An  acre  of  very  fertile  soil  contains  about 
70,000  pounds,  or  2  per  cent,  of  potash  in  the  first  foot  of 
ground.  A  crop  of  wheat  removes  about  15  pounds  of  potash 
from  each  acre.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  first  eight 
inches  of  soil  contain  on  an  average  enough  nitrogen  to  last  90 
years,  enough  phosphoric  acid  to  last  500  years,  and  enough 
potash  to  last  1,000  years.1  This  supply  is  materially  increased 
when  we  consider  the  great  depth  penetrated  by  the  roots  of 
wheat.  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  loss  of  plant 
food  is  often  much  greater  than  that  removed  by  crops;  for 
example,  it  has  been  given  as  three  to  five  times  as  much  in  the 
case  of  nitrogen. 

Extensive  farming,  nevertheless,  soon  reduced  the  produc- 
tivity of  our  first  cultivated  soils,  and  with  the  opening  of  the 
large  and  level  western  wheat  fields  of  fully  as  great  fertility 
as  was  ever  possessed  by  any  soils  of  the  United  States,  many 
of  the  older  lands  were  abandoned.  Now,  however,  most  of 
the  farm  lands  of  the  west  have  ""-een  occupied,  the  standard  or; 
farming  is  being  raised,  and  conditions  have  so  changed  as  to 
make  it  seem  profitable  again  to  resume  the  cultivation  of  these 
abandoned  lands.  But  they  must  be  farmed  by  intensive  meth- 
ods, of  which  fertilizing  is  a  valuable  part.  Some  lands  have 
already  been  restored  to  fertility  and  are  being  cultivated  with 
profit. 

Missouri  soils  are  still  rich  in  plant  food,  yet  their  produc- 
tivity is  much  less  than  it  was  50  years  ago.  Commercial  fer- 
tilizers had  been  profitably  used  in  wheat  raising  in  Ohio  over  a 
decade  ago.  Growing  a  leguminous  crop  on  light  sandy  soil 
deficient  in  humus  increased  the  yield  of  the  following  crop  of 
wheat  over  50  per  cent  in  Arkansas.  When  400  pounds  of  a 
complete  fertilizer  were  used  in  addition,  the  following  2 
years  the  wheat  crop  averaged  over  70  per  cent  more  than  on 
soil  not  thus  treated.  Manure  treatment  and  the  application 
of  phosphorus  is  found  very  profitable  in  Illinois. 
1  Kept.  Mich.  Board  Agr.,  1905,  p.  147. 


FERTILIZERS  145 

As  a  rule,  the  land  in  the  Red  river  valley  is  not  fertilized, 
and  produces  less  than  15  bushels  per  acre,  but  the  application 
of  fertilizers  has  given  26  bushels  per  acre.  Rotation  of  crops  is 
already  widely  practiced  in  the  northwest,  and  as  the  soil  becomes 
more  exhausted  and  the  prices  of  land  and  produce  rise,  ferti- 
lizers will  be  used  there,  just  as  they  have  in  every  other  coun- 
try where  similar  conditions  arose.  Even  the  largest  bonanza 
farmers  are  looking  forward  to  the  time  when  they  must  fer- 
tilize. Stock  will  also  be  raised,  and  farming  will  become  more 
diversified.  This  will  give  opportunity  to  utilize  many  of  the 
products  of  wheat  on  the  farms  where  they  are  produced,  and 
the  need  for  commercial  fertilizers  may  ultimately  be  removed 
altogether.  One-fourth  of  the  nitrogen  and  nearly  all  of  the 
phosphoric  acid  and  potash  which  enter  into  a  crop  of  wheat 
are  contained  in  bran,  screenings  and  middlings.  Most  of  these 
ean  be  returned  to  the  soil  by  raising  stock.  These  principles 
are  not  mere  theories,  for  their  practical  working  has  been 
demonstrated  in  Michigan  and  Illinois,  in  portions  of  which  the 
land  has  been  continually  growing  more  fertile  under  cultivation 
without  the  use  of  a  pound  of  commercial  fertilizer. 

The  average  Kansas  wheat  grower  has  given  little  thought 
yet  to  fertilizing,  but  "his  methods  will  change  with  the  years 
and  the  necessities."  In  Minnesota,  "results  already  reached 
warrant  the  statement  that  the  average  yields  per  acre  of 
wheat  can  be  increased  25  to  50  per  cent  by  so  rotating  the 
crops  and  manuring  and  cultivating  the  fields  (as)  best  to 
prepare  the  soil  for  this  grain. ' ' *  The  necessity  of  fertilizing 
is  little  felt  in  Canada  as  yet. 

Fertilizer  Laws. — A  majority  of  the  United  States,  including 
nearly  all  the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi,  have  statutes,  most 
of  them  rather  stringent,  governing  the  sale  of  commercial 
fertilizers.  That  dealers  were  cheating  farmers  was  first  shown 
by  the  Massachusetts  experiment  station.  This  station  was  in- 
strumental in  the  passage  of  the  Massachusetts  fertilizer  law, 
which  was  more  or  less  closely  followed  by  other  states.  The 
department  of  agriculture  has  made  efforts  for  a  more  uniform 
system  of  laws,  and  to  regulate  interstate  trade.  No  general 
fraud  is  now  practiced.  Thousands  of  official  analyses  are 
1  Minn.  Bui.  12,,  p.  321. 


146  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

made  yearly,  and  these  very  largely  eliminate  fraud  and  ex- 
travagant claims. 

Fertilizer  Statistics.  —  The  annual  sales  of  fertilizers  in  the 
United  States  exceed  $50,000,000,  and  perhaps  over  2,000,000 
tons  are  consumed.  During  1896  over  375,000  tons  were  im- 
ported, valued  at  about  $19  a  ton,  and  over  514,000  tons,  valued 
at  about  $8.50  a  ton,  were  exported.  During  the  first  six  months 
of  1905  the  importations  were  valued  at  nearly  $2,000,000.  The 
annual  import  of  nitrate  of  soda  is  nearly  200,000  tons,  having  an 
average  value  of  about  $30  a  ton.  The  first  guano  sold  for 
about  $95  a  ton,  but  later  fell  to  half  that  amount.  A  ton  of 
cottonseed  meal  has  a  fertilizing  value  of  over  $20.  A  ton  of 
fertilizer,  costing  $25,  is  applied  to  an  acre  of  wheat  land  in 
New  York.  The  phosphate  mined  in  the  United  States  in  1899 
amounted  to  541,645  tons.  The  average  cost  of  phosphates 
at  the  quarry  was  $4.42  per  ton  in  1893.  In  Illinois  rock  phos- 
phate could  be  procured  at  about  $8  per  ton  in  1906,  and  bone 
phosphate  at  $25  per  ton.  California  expended  six  times  as 
much  for  fertilizers  in  1900  as  in  1890.  About  1890  the  farmers 
of  Ohio  were  expending  a  million  dollars  annually  for  com- 
mercial fertilizers  used  in  the  production  of  wheat. 

It  is  claimed  that  a  trust  caused  prices  of  fertilizers  to  ad- 
vance from  15  to  25  per  cent  in  1900.  Below  is  a  schedule  of 
prices  given  for  the  different  fertilizing  substances  per  pound:1 


Nitrogen  ........................................  16^  cents 

Potash  ..........................................  5       cents 

Water-Soluble  Phosphoric  Acid    ..................  6^/2  cents 

Citrate-Soluble  Phosphoric  Acid  ..................  5      cents 

Phosphoric  Acid  in  fine  bone  ......................  3       cents 

Phosphoric  Acid  in  medium  and  coarse  bone  ........  21/fc  cents 

In  Illinois  the  annual  cost  of  fertilizing  an  acre  of  land  is 
about  $1.70.  Tubercle  organisms  enable  leguminous  crops  to 
add  from  $8  to  $10  per  acre  in  nitrogenous  fertilizer.  In  the 
early  nineties  over  75  per  cent  of  the  fertilizers  sold  were 
equal  to  or  above  the  guaranty  under  which  they  were  sold. 
Most  of  the  others  were  much  less  than  1  per  cent  below  their 
guaranty.  It  has  been  estimated  that  with  the  use  of  all  barn 
manures  and  proper  cultivation,  the  soils  of  the  Red  river 

1  Miss.  Bui.  77   (1902),  p.  3, 


FERTILIZERS  147 

valley  should  yield  good  crops  without  commercial  fertilizers 
for  over  a  thousand  years.  l l  From  7  to  135  pounds  of  nitrogen, 
from  3  to  55  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  from  3  to  36 
pounds  of  potash  are  sold  with  every  ton  of  produce  leaving  the 
farm."  Eighty  billion  pounds  of  nitrogenous  material  en- 
tered into  the  creation  of  one  harvest  in  the  United  States  in 
the  early  nineties.  The  cereals  annually  took  from  the  earth 
nearly  3  billion  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  the  loss  of  potash 
was  not  less  than  4  billion  pounds. 

1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1897,  p.  301. 


CHAPTER  IX 
DISEASES  OF  WHEAT 

Introductory. — Studies  in  plant  pathology  of  any  great  prac- 
tical bearing  or  importance  are  decidedly  and  characteristically 
modern  and  recent.  In  1885  there  were  three  institutions  in 
the  United  States  besides  the  department  of  agriculture  which 
were  making  systematic  efforts  in  experimental  work  with 
plant  diseases,  and  in  disseminating  such  knowledge  as  then 
existed  in  these  lines.  Ten  years  later  over  one  hundred  special 
investigators  were  devoting  their  time  to  this  work,  and  50 
colleges  and  stations  were  endeavoring  to  solve  its  practical 
problems.  The  science  of  plant  pathology  has  had  its  highest 
appreciation  during  the  last  decade,  for  some  of  the  outlying 
problems  have  been  solved,  a  working  foundation  has  been  laid 
from  the  facts  that  were  acquired,  and  a  body  of  institutions 
with  specialists  and  resources  has  been  developed  for  scientifi- 
cally prosecuting  the  work. 

The  Classification  here  followed  is  practical  and  inclusive, 
rather  than  scientific  and  exclusive.  There  is  nothing  patho- 
logical in  the  sudden  destruction  of  a  field  of  wheat  by  floods 
or  locusts,  but  excessive  moisture  or  the  presence  of  a  parasite 
may  each  bring  about  diseased  conditions,  and  every  gradation 
of  phenomena  between  these  two  types  must  be  considered. 

Sources  of  Injury  and  Weakness  are  of  three  kinds:  (1) 
Unfavorable  inanimate  environment;  (2)  unfavorable  animate 
environment;  and  (3)  poor  seed  wheat.  When  these  three  sets 
of  factors  occur  in  combination,  as  they  frequently  do,  their 
relations  and  inter-relations  are  so  intimate  and  intricate  as  to 
be  inseparable.  Only  in  a  general  way  can  they  be  individually 
studied. 

WEATHER  AND    SOIL   INFLUENCES 

Unfavorable  Inanimate  Environment. — DROUGHT;  HAIL,  WIND 
AND  RAIN  STORMS;  FLOODS;  FIRE.  The  operation  of  these  de- 
structive influences  needs  no  further  elucidation  than  a  mere 

148 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT  149 

mention.  Very  little  specific  information  can  be  found  as  to 
the  extent  of  damage  caused.  Such  scattering  data  as  have 
been  collected  can  be  most  advantageously  presented  under  the 
subject  of  insurance. 

FROSTS. — The  most  usual  injury  by  frost  is  the  winterkilling 
of  fall  wheat.  This  may  occur  whenever  the  ground  freezes  to 
any  appreciable  depth,  and  in  two  ways.  The  plants  either 
freeze  to  death,  or  are  lifted  out  of  the  soil  by  alternate 
freezing  and  thawing.  A  good  covering  of  snow  is  very  pro- 
tective. Seeding  with  a  press  drill  lessens  the  danger.  Frost 
may  also  injure  wheat  when  it  is  filling,  or  it  may  cause  the 
stems  to  burst  after  they  have  jointed. 

HOT  WAVES  OR  WINDS  are  most  liable  to  occur  during  a  period 
of  drought.  It  is  thought  that  these  waves  can  be  forecasted 
for  a  period  of  about  four  days.  At  such  times  the  eastward 
circulation  of  the  atmosphere  is  practically  suspended,  and  radi- 
ation is  at  a  minimum.  A  hot  wave  is  defined  as  a  period  of 
three  or  more  consecutive  days  with  a  maximum  temperature 
reaching  or  passing  90°  F.  In  years  when  hot  waves  are  un- 
usually severe,  the  harvest  returns  are  decreased  by  one-fourth 
in  quantity,  and  the  quality  is  quite  inferior.  The  heat  seems 
to  mellow  the  ground,  however,  and  to  put  it  in  such  ideal  con- 
dition as  to  increase  the  crop  of  the  following  season.  Hot 
winds  have  a  velocity  of  20  to  30  miles  per  hour,  a  tempera- 
ture often  ranging  from  100  to  106°  F.,  and  20  to  30  per  cent 
of  relative  humidity.  The  roots  cannot  supply  moisture,  even 
if  it  is  present  in  abundance,  as  fast  as  it  is  evaporated  from  the 
leaves  by  this  great  blast  of  hot,  dry  air.  The  cells  are  com- 
pletely desiccated,  and  the  whole  structure  of  the  plant  col- 
lapses. A  hot  wind  is  most  destructive  immediately  after  a 
rain,  which  temporarily  checks  and  lessens  the  transpiration  of 
which  the  plant  is  capable.  In  the  United  States  these  winds 
are  most  apt  to  occur  in  the  central  prairie  regions.  In  Argen- 
tina, a  similar  dry,  hot  wind  known  as  the  pampero  comes  up 
suddenly,  destroys  all  vegetation  "and  even  cracks  furniture 
and  timber  in  buildings.'7  A  wind-break  of  trees,  or  anything 
else  that  tends  to  lessen  the  movement  of  the  air,  has  a  remedial 
effect. 

EXCESSIVE  MOISTURE. — This  may  be  injurious  in  a  number  of 
ways.  If  too  much  water  is  present,  the  wheat  may  be 


150  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

"  drowned. "  It  also  tends  to  develop  the  straw  indefinitely, 
and  at  the  expense  of  the  grain.  Rains  during  heading  are  apt 
to  prevent  filling,  and  are  by  far  the  most  common  cause  of 
blight.  In  a  very  wet  harvest  wheat  is  apt  to  germinate  be- 
fore it  can  be  threshed.  One-third  of  the  wheat  crop  of  lower 
Canada  was  lost  in  1855  by  the  grain  germinating  in  the  straw. 

UNFAVORABLE  SOIL. — The  soil  texture  may  be  such  as  to  de- 
prive the  roots  of  the  proper  air  supply.  Certain  elements,  as 
in  the  case  of  alkali,  for  example,  may  be  present  in  such 
abundance  that  their  chemical  action  upon  the  wheat  plants 
causes  disease.  Some  of  the  essential  plant  foods  may  be 
absent,  or  present  in  improper  proportion. 

All  types  of  disease  mentioned  thus  far  arise  from  physio- 
logical variations  due  to  abnormal  variations  in  the  growth  fac- 
tors, are  not  transmissible,  and  consequently  never  spread 
from  plant  to  plant  or  field  to  field,  as  do  the  infectious  wheat 
diseases. 

PLANT  INFLUENCES 

Unfavorable  Animate  Environment. — WEEDS — Plants  out  of 
place  are  called  weeds.  They  deprive  wheat  of  its  nutri- 
ment and  ordinarily  give  very  little  in  return,  except  in  the 
case  of  certain  legumes.  Weeds  once  introduced  into  a  region 
spread  rapidly.  With  runners,  rootstocks,  running  roots  and 
apparatus  for  throwing  seeds,  they  effect  a  dispersion  of  their 
kind  independently  of  any  external  agencies.  Wind,  water  and 
animals  are  the  natural  agencies  that  aid  in  the  dispersion,  but 
rarely  carry  seeds  long  distances.  Man  aids  weed  migration 
more  than  all  natural  means  combined,  and  consequently  its  gen- 
eral direction  is  in  the  wake  of  the  progress  of  cultivation. 
Commerce  in  wheat  makes  some  weeds  cosmopolites.  These 
plants  have  a  wide  range  of  adaptability,  which  grows  wider 
under  conditions  of  cultivation.  Some  seeds,  especially  those 
of  cockle,  have  a  tendency  to  approximate  the  wheat  grain  on 
account  of  selective  influences  arising  from  cleaning  seed  wheat. 
Those  which  differ  most  from  wheat  are  the  ones  removed. 
Sowing  the  remaining  ones  develops  a  strain  more  closely  re- 
sembling the  wheat  grain. 

Weeds  injurious  to  wheat  may  be  divided  into  three  classes, 
based  on  the  point  of  incidence  of  the  damage  caused:  (1) 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT  151 

Those  which  choke  the  crop,  preventing  its  growth;  (2)  those 
which  interfere  with  harvesting  and  curing;  and  (3)  those 
whose  seeds  injure  the  commercial  value  of  the  grain  by  min- 
gling with  it.  Deterioration  in  the  quality  of  the  grain  by  the 
third  class  is  perhaps  the  greatest  damage  resulting  from  weeds. 

Kinds  of  Weeds:  CHESS  OR  CHEAT  (Bromus  secalinus  L.) — This 
is  an  annual  grass  that  will  not  produce  seed  unless  sown  in  the 
fall,  and  consequently  it  is  not  found  in  spring  wheat.  It  is 
less  vigorous  than  wheat,  but  more  prolific,  and  also  more  re- 
sistant against  cold  and  insects.  One  pound  of  seed  has  been 
known  to  multiply  99-fold  in  one  generation,  and  one  seed 
3,000-fold.  The  ordinary  observer  cannot  distinguish  the  young 
chess  plant  from  wheat.  Chess  injures  flour  and  must  be 
cleaned  from  the  wheat  before  grinding.  Seed  wheat  properly 
cleaned  by  a  fanning  mill  is  quite  free  from  chess.  If  wheat 
is  treated  for  smut  by  stirring  it  in  a  solution,  the  chess  seeds 
will  rise  to  the  surface  and  can  be  skimmed  off.  A  pound  of 
chess  and  a  bushel  of  wheat  have  about  the  same  number  of 
seeds. 

Russian  Thistle  or  Cactus  (Salsola  kali  tragus  L.). — This 
weed  is  neither  a  thistle  nor  a  cactus,  but  a  saltwort,  closely  re- 
lated to  the  tumbleweed,  lamb's  quarters,  and  pigweed.  In 
parts  of  Russia,  where  it  has  been  known  over  150  years,  ex- 
tending now  to  northern  Russia  and  central  Siberia,  it  is  known 
as  Tartar  or  Hector  weed.  It  was  first  introduced  into  the 
United  States  in  1873  or  1874,  being  sown  in  South  Dakota  with 
Russian  flax  seed.  As  the  weed  prefers  a  dry  climate,  it  could 
not  have  found  a  more  congenial  habitat.  When  the  plants 
were  uprooted  in  the  fall  they  rolled  across  the  prairie  with 
the  speed  of  the  wind,  scattering  seeds  at  every  bound,  and 
stopping  only  when  they  were  worn  to  pieces,  or  when  the  wind 
ceased,  for  in  the  early  Dakotas  there  were  few  fences,  forests, 
or  streams  to  stop  their  course. 

Thus  they  covered  an  advance  of  5  or  10  miles  in  a  season, 
though  stray  plants  went  much  farther.  As  a  rapid  traveler 
thoroughly  covering  territory  it  surpassed  any  other  weed 
known  in  America,  and  very  few  cultivated  plants  intention- 
ally distributed  have  such  a  record  for  rapidity.  Within  20 
years  it  infested  a  continuous  area  of  about  35,000  square  miles, 
and  caused  at  least  $1,600,000  damage  to  wheat  every  year. 


152  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

By  1894  it  had  crossed  to  the  west  side  of  the  Missouri  river, 
and  was  spreading  in  Minnesota,  Iowa  and  Nebraska.  In  1895 
the  injuries  which  it  caused  extended  from  Michigan  to  Col- 
orado, Idaho  and  California,  but  the  greatest  damage  resulted 
in  the  Dakotas  and  Nebraska. 

The  Russian  thistle  is  an  annual  with  a  dense,  yet  light 
growth  of  circular  or  hemispherical  form.  The  average  plant 
is  2  to  3  feet  in  diameter,  weighs  2  to  3  pounds  when  matured 
and  dry,  and  is  estimated  to  bear  20,000  to  30,000  seeds.  Single 
plants  have  been  found  6  feet  in  diameter,  weighing  about  20 
pounds  when  thoroughly  dry,  and  estimated  to  bear  200,000 
seeds.  It  is  ideally  fitted  to  be  carried  by  the  fall  winds,  which 
easily  break  off  or  pull  out  its  slender  roots.  A  severe  frost 
kills  the  plant  at  any  time,  but  it  produces  seeds  abundantly 
as  far  north  as  the  Canadian  boundary. 

In  Russia  no  effectual  method  of  exterminating  the  weed  is 
known.  It  is  continually  growing  worse,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  cultivation  of  crops  has  been  abandoned  over  large  areas  in 
some  of  the  provinces  near  the  Caspian  sea.  Laws  for  its 
eradication  were. passed  in  South  Dakota  in  1890,  in  Iowa  in 
1893,  and  in  Kansas,  North  Dakota,  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin 
in  1895.  In  1892  and  again  in  1893,  the  department  of  agricul- 
ture sent  an  assistant  botanist  to  the  Dakotas  to  work  out  the 
whole  life  history  of  the  plant,  and  the  method  of  dealing  with 
it  was  established  chiefly  on  the  basis  of  the  knowledge  thus 
obtained.  It  is  claimed  that  if  this  had  been  done  before  1885, 
a  saving  would  have  been  effected  for  the  wheat  growers  of  the 
northwest' l '  sufficient  to  pay  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  whole 
department  of  agriculture  for  many  years  to  come. ' ' T  Wetter 
seasons,  more  intensive  farming,  the  building  of  fences,  and 
the  planting  of  trees  reduced  the  Russian  thistle  to  the 
ranks  of  comparatively  unimportant  weeds  in  the  Dakotas,  but 
in  Nebraska  stringent  measures  were  necessary.  Farmers  co- 
operated in  the  work,  and  the  weed  was  t(  hunted  almost  as 
strenuously  as  game  would  be,"  so  that  for  some  years  it  has 
not  been  an  important  factor  in  wheat  growing  in  Nebraska. 

Darnel  (Lolium  temulentum  L.)  has  its  widest  distribution  in 
Europe.    It  also  occurs  in  the  wheat  fields  of  California,  where 
1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1897,  pp.  95-96. 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAtf  153 

it  is  mistaken  for  chess.  It  is  an  annual  grass,  and  can  be 
cleaned  from  seed  wheat  by  the  chess  method. 

Cockle  (Agrostemma  githago  L.)  is  a  member  of  the  pink 
family  and  a  widely  distributed  weed  of  the  wheat  fields  since 
ancient  times.  In  size  and  weight  its  seeds  resemble  wheat 
grains  so  closely  as  to  be  removed  with  difficulty.  They  are 
easily  seen  in  the  grain,  however,  and  are  injurious  to  flour, 
consequently  they  render  wheat  less  marketable.  As  cockle 
is  usually  not  abundant,  grows  over  a  foot  high,  and  is  con- 
spicuous because  of  its  large  pink  blossoms,  it  can  easily  be 
pulled  from  the  growing  wheat.  The  seeds  have  great  vitality 
and  will  germinate  even  if  they  have  lain  in  the  ground  several 
years. 

Wild  Garlic  (Allium  vineale  L.)  is  most  troublesome  to 
wheat  in  eastern  United  States.  It  grows  about  two  feet  in 
height.  The  flour  is  spoiled  when  the  bulblets  of  the  plant  are 
ground  with  the  wheat.  These  can  be  removed  by  careful  screen- 
ing. Badly  infested  land  should  be  put  into  cultivated  crops 
for  a  few  years. 

Wheat-Thief  (Lithospermum  arvense  L.). — Other  names  by 
which  wheat-thief  is  known  are  bastard  alkanet,  corn  gromwell, 
redroot  and  pigeonweed.  Its  greatest  damage  is  to  meadows  fol- 
lowing wheat  in  rotation.  Cultivated  crops  are  the  best  remedy. 

Wild  Mustard  or  Charlock  (Brassica  sinapistrum  L.)  is  so 
uniformly  found  in  spring  wheat  that  flouring  mills  make  a  by- 
product of  its  seed.  When  not  very  abundant  it  is  easily  pulled 
in  the  field,  for  it  grows  nearly  as  high  as  the  grain  and  has  con- 
spicuous yellow  flowers.  In  small  wheat  fields  where  it  is  very 
abundant  it  can  be  killed  by  spraying  the  field  with  a  3  per  cent 
solution  of  copper  sulphate,  using  about  50  gallons  of  solution 
to  the  acre.  It  is  claimed  that  the  wheat  is  not  injured.1  If 
wild  mustard  seed  is  covered  with  at  least  five  inches  of  soil  it 
will  not  grow,  but  thus  buried  it  will'  retain  good  germinating 
power  for  over  56  months.  It  comes  up  most  abundantly 
through  one  inch  of  soil. 

Thistles    are    of    two    varieties:       Canada    thistle     (Cnicus 

arvensis),   and   common  or  sow  thistle    (C.   lance olatus) .     The 

latter  is  also  known  as  spear,  bur,  and  bull-thistle.     It  grows 

2  to  4  feet  high  and  has  the  better  hold  on  the  land  where  both 

i  Cornell  Bui.  216   (1904),  p.  107. 


154  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

infest  the  same  area.  The  Canada  thistle  is  a  native  of  Europe 
and  Asia.  In  Great  Britain  it  is  called  corn  or  creeping  thistle. 
Its  growth  is  rather  slender,  and  from  one  to  two  feet  in  height. 
Its  deep-laid,  extensively-creeping  and  sprouting  rootstock  make 
it  one  of  the  very  worst  of  weeds.  Both  of  these  plants  are 
constantly  invading  new  territory,  especially  such  as  is  con- 
tinually cropped  in  wheat.  The  areas  infested  become  useless 
for  growing  small  grain.  Intensive  cultivation  with  a  certain 
amount  of  hand  work  is  the  best  remedy. 

General  Remedies. — While  experiments  in  killing  certain  weeds 
by  spraying  with  chemical  solutions  have  been  made,  the  most 
practical  method  is  to  prevent  as  far  as  possible  the  spread  of 
their  seeds.  This  is  accomplished  by  sowing  clean  seed  wheat, 
and  by  killing  the  weeds  when  they  do  succeed  in  starting.  Con- 
ditions most  favorable  to  the  growth  of  wheat  place  the  weeds 
at  the  greatest  disadvantage.  Intensive  farming  always  finds 
effectual  methods  of  dealing  with  them. 

Losses. — The  wheat  growers  lose  millions  of  dollars  annually 
on  account  of  weeds.  They  are  the  largest  factor  in  elevator 
dockage.  In  North  Dakota1  47  samples  of  wheat  were  found  to 
have  an  average  real  dockage  of  .64  pounds  per  bushel.  This 
varies  each  year,  and  the  average  dockage  for  the  1906  crop  of 
wheat  was  about  2  pounds  in  the  Minneapolis  market.  If  500,- 
000,000  bushels  of  wheat  are  grown  in  the  United  States  an- 
nually, and  the  dockage  averages  only  half  of  one  pound  per 
bushel,  then  over  4,000,000  bushels  are  not  only  waste,  but  they 
also  injure  the  commercial  value  of  the  real  wheat.  Where 
large  quantities  of  wheat  are  cleaned,  the  cost  is  about  one- 
fourth  of  a  cent  per  bushel. 

Birds. — In  the  United  States  29  species  and  subspecies  repre- 
sent the  family  Icterida3,  a  group  of  birds  including  those  com- 
monly known  as  bobolinks,  meadowlarks,  orioles,  blackbirds, 
grackles  and  cowbirds.  Rating  the  blackbirds  in  the  order  of  their 
grain-eating  propensities  revealed  by  stomach  examinations, 
and  putting  first  those  that  eat  least,  the  list  reads :  Bobolink, 
redwing,  cowbird,  rusty  blackbird,  yellowhead,  crow  blackbird, 
boat-tailed  grackle,  Brewer's  blackbird  and  California  red- 
wing. Since  the  first  two  are  the  ones  most  complained  of, 
the  amount  of  grain  actually  eaten  would  not  seem  to  be  the 
1  N.  D.  An.  Report  (1904),  p.  45. 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT  155 

only  factor  to  be  considered  in  determining  the  relative  harm- 
fulness  of  the  species.  The  dove,  the  sparrow  and  the  crow 
also  eat  grain  from  the  fields,  as  do  many  other  species.  None 
of  these  birds  are,  however,  entirely  harmful;  indeed  the  good 
that  many  of  them  do  by  destroying  injurious  insects  and  seeds 
more  than  counterbalances  the  damage  occasioned  by  the  eating 
of  grain.  At  least  50  different  birds  act  as  weed  destroyers  and 
help  to  eradicate  nearly  100  species  of  noxious  plants.  The 
number  of  weed  seeds  eaten  is  enormous,  one  bird  eating  a 
thousand  seeds  of  some  kinds  for  a  single  breakfast.  The  in- 
sects eaten  by  these  birds  are  also  generally  noxious.  There  is 
usually  an  equilibrium  of  organisms  in  nature,  and  birds  be- 
come harmful  only  when  they  disturb  this  proper  balance  by 
increasing  out  of  proportion  to  their  environment. 

"Yellow  Berry." — This  occurs  in  hard  winter  wheat.  Some 
of  the  wheat  berries  are  often  lighter  in  color  and  weight  than 
the  hard  red  ones,  and  also  have  a  lower  gluten  content.  Over- 
ripeness  and  failure  to  stack  the  sheaves  have  been  given  as 
causes,  but  opinions  seem  to  differ  as  to  this.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  annual  loss  in  Nebraska  is  from  one-half  to  one  mil- 
lion dollars.1 

FUNGOUS   ENEMIES 

"Glume  Spot." — This  fungus  receives  its  name  from  the 
dark  spots  that  it  causes  upon  the  glumes  of  wheat.  It  has 
been  studied  but  little,  and  no  remedy  is  known. 

Wheat  Scab  (Fusarium  culmorum)  also  attacks  the  glumes 
and  causes  lead-brown-colored  sections  in  the  spike,  or  even  de- 
stroys the  spike  entirely.  The  loss  is  usually  light,  but  may 
reach  a  maximum  of  about  15  per  cent.  The  only  remedy  sug- 
gested is  the  burning  of  the  stubble. 

Smut. — Two  kinds  of  smut  attack  wheat,  stinking  smut,  or 
bunt  (Tilletia  tritici  (Bjerk.)  Wint.),  and  loose  smut  (Ustilago 
tritici  (Pers.)  Jens.).  The  enormous  damage  resulting  from 
this  disease  attracted  attention  in  ancient  Greece  and  Rome. 
Hartlib  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  smutty  seed  produces 
smutty  grain,  and  he  was  perhaps  first  to  record  a  remedy 
(1655).  His  three  remedies  for  smut  in  wheat  were  liming  the 
1  Neb.  Bui.  89  (1905),  p.  50. 


DISEASES  OJ1  WHEAT  157 

field,  liming  the  seed,  and  soaking  the  seed  over  night  in  com- 
mon salt  lye.  Though  the  efficacy  of  the  remedies  was  doubt- 
ed, there  must  have  been  some  beneficial  results,  for  it  is 
claimed  that  the  seed  was  invariably  steeped.  By  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  there  were  many  methods  of  steep- 
ing, liming  and  brining  wheat  to  prevent  smut.  It  was  found 
that  the  use  of  a  solution  of  arsenic  gave  a  clean  crop  from 
smutty  seed. 

Just  how  fully  the  nature  of  smut  was  understood  by  these 
early  writers  does  not  seem  to  be  clear,  but  they  must  have  had 
considerable  knowledge  of  the  disease  in  order  to  pursue  such 
correct  principles  in  endeavoring  to  effect  a  cure.  The  black 
dust  frequently  filling  the  kernels  of  ripening  wheat  consists  of 
thousands  of  germs  of  the  parasitic  smut  fungus.  These  germs, 
or  spores,  have  a  great  capacity  for  spreading  over  the  fields, 
but  the  only  real  danger  seems  to  be  from  those  spores  which 
lodge  on  healthy  kernels,  generally  in  the  hairy  ends.  Chances 
are  slight  of  clean  seed  being  infected  by  being  sown  on 
ground  containing  smut  spores.  Spores  have  the  same  func- 
tion as  seeds  of  higher  plants,  and,  the  infected  kernels  of 
wheat  being  sown,  the  spores  germinate  at  the  same  time  as 
the  wheat.  The  slender  filaments  penetrate  the  tissues  of  the 
wheat  plant  before  the  first  leaf  is  put  forth.  From  this 
point  its  growth  is, within  the  wheat  plant,  both  plants  growing 
together.  It  seems  to  be  still  undecided  how  these  threads  pro- 
ceed below  the  upper  two  joints  of  the  mature  wheat  plant, 
whether  they  pass  upward  through  the  pithy  region  of  the  stalks, 
or  whether  they  follow  the  surface  tissues,  but  it  is  probable 
that  the  method  of  smut  growth  is  uniform  throughout  the 
entire  plant.  The  fungus  seems  to  die  as  it  passes  upward,  and 
leaves  few  traces  of  its  path. 

In  the  mature  wheat  plant  smut  seems  to  be  found  only  in 
the  chlorophyl  bearing  parenchymatic  tissues.  Nearly  30  rows 
of  breathing  pores  in  the  skin  covering  of  the  straw  run  length- 
wise with  the  stalk.  Under  these  rows  of  pores  are  layers 
of  succulent  cells  which  produce  the  food  eventually  used  in 
forming  the  wheat  grains.  The  smut  filaments  remain  close 
to  the  open  pores,  absorbing  and  taking  the  place  of  this  cellu- 
lar structure  with  its  chlorophyl  and  protoplasm.  No  other 
cellular  tissues  are  disturbed,  and  until  the  heads  develop  the 


158 


THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 


presence  of  the  smut  can  scarcely  be  detected  without  the  aid 
of  a  microscope.  A  mass  of  smut  threads  then  absorbs  all 
the  nourishment,  fills  the  flower  or  grain,  and  soon  converts 
it  into  a  mass  of  spores.  As  the  parasite  lives  at  the  expense 
of  its  host,  the  latter  is  weakened  and  stunted  in  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  smut.  This  may  be  great  enough  to  dwarf  the 
plants  so  as  to  prevent  the  formation  of  heads,  or  even  to 
cause  the  stalks  to  die  back  to  the  ground,  or  it  may  be  so 
little  that  the  heads  are  never  reached,  simply  the  straw  being 
infected.  Much  of  the  straw  may  be  thus  infected,  greatly 
reducing  the  yield,  even  though  apparently  uninjured  heads  are 
formed.  Smut  filaments  have  also  been  found  in  grains  which 
had  formed  starch.1  In  general,  smut  and  wheat  seem  to  de- 


SECTIONS    OF    SMUTTED    WHEAT    STRAW 

At  the  left  is  a  longitudinal  section  of  a  wheat  straw  and  at  the  right  a  cross 
section,  a,  epidermal  cells ;  b,  smut  filaments ;  c,  fibrous  cells ;  d,  internal 
tissues. 

mand  about  the  same  meteorological  conditions  for  their  best 
growth.  Smut  will  successfully  pass  the  winter,  even  upon 
the  open  ground  in  North  Dakota.  Germs  two  years  old  have 
not  lost  their  power  of  producing  smut  in  a  crop.3 

Grains  of  wheat  affected  by  stinking  smut  are  slightly  larger 
and  more  irregular  than  healthy  ones.  Such  kernels,  the  so- 
called  "smut-balls,"  are  easily  broken  open,  and  the  dark- 
brown  powder  with  which  they  are  filled  has  a  very  disagree- 
able and  penetrating  odor  that  pervades  the  whole  bin  of 
wheat,  even  if  only  a  small  per  cent  of  the  kernels  are  smut- 
ted. On  this  account  they  differ  from  all  other  grain  smuts 
in  that  their  presence  can  be  easily  recognized.  Sometimes 

1  Bolley,  Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Ass'n.,  1900.  p.  86. 
8  Rept    N.  D.  Agr.  Exp  Sta.,  1901,  p.  34. 


DISEASES   OF  WHEAT 


159 


50  to  75  per  cent  of  the  heads  in  a  field  are 
smutted,  and  the  remainder  of  the  grain  is 
so  contaminated  by  the  fetid  spores  as  to 
be  of  very  little  value  as  flour  and  worse 
than  useless  for  seed.  Unchecked,  these 
smuts  increase  from  year  to  year,  and  they 
occur  more  or  less  abundantly  in  all  wheat 
raising  countries. 

Loose  Smut  of  Wheat  differs  from  the 
stinking  smut  in  these  respects:  At  germi- 
nation its  spores  develop  a  chain  of  cells 
instead  of  an  undivided  tube;  it  has  no 
fetid  odor;  it  attacks  both  kernel  and  chaff; 
and  it  ripens  when  the  healthy  wheat  is  in 
flour.  By  harvest  time  the  spores  have  all 
taken  wings  upon  the  wind,  leaving  a  naked 
stalk  in  place  of  the  head.  It  is 
known  to  occur  in  Europe,  North 
America,  northern  Africa,  central 
Asia  and  the  West  Indies.  There  are 
many  localities  in  the  United  States 
STINKING  SMUT  where  it  is  rare  or  entirely  absent.  A 
loss  of  10  per  cent  or  more  of  the 
crop  is  often  occasioned  by  loose  smut,  and  even 
as  high  as  50  per  cent,  but  usually  it  is  not  as  de- 
structive as  the  stinking  smuts.  It  seems  to  be 
more  difficult  to  prevent,  however,  so  that  when 
once  introduced  into  a  field,  it  is  more  apt  to 
remain. 

Remedies. — Any  means  that  destroy  the  vitality  of 
the  smut  spores  adhering  to  seed  wheat  but  leave  the 
latter  unimpaired  in  its  power  of  germinating  are  a 
safe  preventive  of  smutted  wheat.  There  are  several 
ways  of  accomplishing  this  easily  and  perfectly  with 
the  stinking  smut.  In  all  treatments  by  immersion  in 
solution,  the  seed  should  first  be  stirred  in  water  in 
order  to  skim  off  the  smut  balls.  Slaked  lime  will 
hasten  drying,  but  is  not  essential.  If  the  seed  is  LOOSE 
sown  without  drying,  the  drill  must  be  set  accordingly.  SMUT 


160  THE    BOOK   OJ1   WHEAT 

CORROSIVE  SUBLIMATE  (Mercuric  Chloride,  Hg  CF.) — This 
may  be  used  at  the  rate  of  1  Ib.  to  50  gallons  of  water  (2l/2 
parts  to  1,000).  The  wheat  is  piled  upon  a  floor  or  canvas,  and 
constantly  shoveled  while  it  is  being  sprayed  or  sprinkled,  until 
every  grain  is  wet  over  its  entire  surface.  The  use  of  more 
of  the  solution  than  is  necessary  to  do  this  is  injurious.  The 
seed  should  then  be  dried. 

COPPER  SULPHATE  (Cu  SO*). — One  pound  of  crystallized  (not 
powdered)  commercial  copper  sulphate  or  bluestone  is  used  to 
every  25  gallons  of  water.  The  grain  is  soaked  12  hours  in 
this  solution,  being  stirred  occasionally.  Then,  to  avoid  in- 
juring the  power  of  germination,  it  is  immersed  for  a  few 
minutes  in  limewater  made  by  adding  ten  gallons  of  water  to 
one  pound  of  good  slaked  lime. 

FORMALIN. — One  pound  of  formalin  (the  trade  name  for  a 
40  per  cent  solution  of  formaldehyde)  is  diluted  with  50  gal- 
lons of  water.  The  grain  is  treated  as  in  using  corrosive  sub- 
limate. Each  bushel  of  grain  requires  about  one  gallon  of  the 
solution.  The  grain  is  left  in  a  pile  for  2  or  3  hours,  and  is 
then  spread  out  to  dry.  This  method  is  not  successful  with 
formalin  that  is  not  a  40  per  cent  solution.  Formalin  rapidly 
loses  its  strength  unless  kept  tightly  corked,  and  careless  or 
unscrupulous  dealers  sell  a  solution  that  is  too  dilute,  or  under 
weight  on  account  of  the  bottles  in  which  it  is  sold  being  below 
standard  size.  Formaldehyde  vapor  has  also  been  found  effec- 
tive in  destroying  stinking  smut. 

HOT  WATER  OR  JENSEN  TREATMENT. — It  is  claimed  that  this 
process  was  discovered  by  J.  L.  Jensen  of  Denmark,  in  1887. 
Hot  water  and  quicklime  were  used  several  years  before  this 
date.  In  this  method  the  seed  is  placed  loosely  in  a  coarsely 
woven  gunny  sack  or  wire-covered  basket,  and  then  dipped  in 
water  having  a  temperature  between  132  and  133°  F.  The  vol- 
ume of  water  must  be  6  or  8  times  that  of  the  seed  treated  at 
any  one  time.  Lifting  out  and  draining  the  grain  4  or  5  times 
during  the  treatment  insures  its  coming  in  contact  with  water 
at  the  proper  temperature.  The  treatment  requires  10  min- 
utes. The  grain  should  then  be  dried  at  once,  or  dipped  in  cold 
water  and  set  aside  until  it  can  be  dried. 

A  MODIFIED  HOT  WATER  METHOD  is  used  in  treating  for  loose 
smut,  for  this  is  not  destroyed  by  any  of  the  cures 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT  161 

mentioned  above.  The  grain  is  first  soaked  four  hours 
in  cold  water,  and  set  away  in  wet  sacks  for  four 
hours  more.  It  is  then  immersed  for  five  minutes 
in  water  at  132°  F.  Some  of  the  seed  is  killed  by  the  treatment, 
and  one-half  more  must  be  sown  per  acre.  It  has  been  claimed, 
however,  that  no  sure  method  of  destroying  loose  smut  is  known, 
and  that  the  only  available  relief  at  present  is  to  obtain  clean 
seed  from  a  smut-free  district.1 

Results  and  Expenses. — These  remedies  seem  to  be  entirely 
efficacious,  and  if  properly  and  universally  applied,  there  is  no 
reason  why  smut  should  not  be  practically  eradicated  from  the 
wheat  fields.  Before  the  nature  of  smut  was  fully  understood, 
one  of  the  unexpected  results  of  treating  it  was  an  increase 
in  yield  greater  than  the  result  of  merely  replacing  the  smutted 
heads  with  sound  ones.  This  was  explained  when  it  was  learned 
that  smut  was  often  present  in  the  straw  even  though  it  did 
not  reach  the  heads.  Usually  the  increase  in  yield  is  two  or 
three  times  as  great  as  the  visible  smut,  but  may  be  six  or 
more  times  as  great.  The  methods  of  treatment  are  inexpen- 
sive. In  the  hot  water  method  the  cost  is  practically  only  the 
labor  required.  In  some  of  the  other  methods  the  cost  of 
chemicals  is  little  more  than  would  pay  for  the  labor  in  the 
hot  water  treatment.  Liquid  formaldehyde,  which  is  used  quite 
extensively  in  the  Northwest,  is  found  very  effective,  and  costs 
only  from  three-fourths  of  one  cent  to  two  cents  per  acre.  The 
treatment  by  sprinkling  and  shoveling  is  cheaper  than  dipping. 

Losses  continue  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  has  often  been 
demonstrated  that  smuts  are  controllable.  During  the  year  1902 
wheat  smut  caused  a  loss  of  2.5  million  dollars  in  the  state  of 
Washington  alone.  In  the  following  year  smut  destroyed  from 
10  to  50  per  cent  of  the  wheat  in  parts  of  Wisconsin.  At 
Winnipeg  3  to  6  per  cent  of  the  wheat  offered  for  sale  during 
1904-5  was  rejected  on  account  of  smut,  and  in  1905  as  high  as 
75  per  cent  of  the  wheat  was  destroyed  by  smut  in  parts  of 
North  Dakota.  While  seed  wheat  is  very  commonly  treated 
for  smut,  these  losses  show  that  there  is  still  need  for  more 
educational  work.  It  is  necessary  to  demonstrate  repeatedly 
the  efficacy  of  the  treatments  in  order  to  secure  their  adoption 
by  the  conservative  farming  element.  This  element  continues 
1  Freeman,  Minn,  Plant  Diseases  (1905),  p.  297. 


162 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


to  grow  smutted  wheat  because  it  has  always  done  so,  and  be- 
cause the  extent  of  the  loss  and  the  ease  of  its  prevention  are 
so  little  realized.  Formerly  at  least  one-fifth  of  the  cereal 
crops  was  annually  destroyed  by  smut.  Smutty  wheat  intro- 
duces a  large  element  of  speculation  into  the  business  of  ele- 
vator men,  for  it  produces  a  very  low  grade  of  flour.  Such  wheat 
must  be  washed,  an  expensive  process  which  also  endangers  the 
quality  of  the  flour.  From  smutted  flour  the  baker  gets  a  poor, 
darkened  product  that  finds  little  market.  As  a  result  smutted 
wheat  is  justly  thrown  into  a  very  low,  or  "rejected"  grade. 

Rust. — What  is  popularly  termed 
wheat  rust  may  be  the  result  of 
one  or  more  of  a  number  of  rust 
fungi,  parasitic  plants.  This  dis- 
ease was  mentioned  by  Virgil.  It 
was  known  in  Britain  before  1592. 
Fontana  (1767)  is  generally  ac- 
credited with  connecting  rust  of 
cereals  with  a  specific  fungus, 
which  Persoon  (1797)  investigated 
more  fully,  and  named.  Three  kinds 
of  rusts  are  known  to  attack  wheat. 
Puccinia  coronata,  the  crown  rust, 
is  comparatively  unimportant.  The 
two  distinctive  rusts  are  Puccinia 
orange  leaf-rust,  and  P.  gram- 
inis,  the  late,  stem-rust.  The  former  is  popularly  called  "red" 
and  the  latter  "black"  rust.  Both  species,  however,  produce 
first  reddish  and  then  black  spores,  but  in  the  orange  leaf-rust 
the  red  spores  are  far  more  abundant  than  the  black  ones,  while 
in  the  stem-rust  the  black  spores  are  the  more  abundant. 

LIFE  HISTORY.— The  wheat  rusts  belong  to  that  type  of 
fungi  which  have  several  stages  of  development  represented  by 
different  types  of  spore  formation  and  separated  by  two  or 
more  rest  periods.  The  life  history  is  the  development  of  the 
fungus  through  all  its  stages,  and  it  is  said  to  be  "known" 
when  the  experimenter  can  take  one  type  of  spore  formation 
and  from  this  produce  artificially  all  of  the  other  types  in 
turn  through  the  life  cycle  until  a  return  is  made  to  the  type 
of  spore  formation  with  which  he  began.  Usually  the  types 


AECIDIA  ON  BARBERRY 


rubigo-vera,     the     early, 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT 


163 


of  spores  characteristic  of  the  different  stages  in  the  life  cycle 
of  such  a  fungus  are  so  different  in  form  and  character  and  so 
divergent  in  their  modes  of  development  and  subsequent  habits 
of  growth  as  to  mislead  the  investigator  completely  and  excite 
no  idea  of  relationship.  Several  entirely  different  types  of  hosts 
are  frequently  utilized  in  the  life  cycle.  It  is  because  of  their 
complex  life  history  that  rusts  have  so  long  been  shrouded  in 
mystery  and  confusion,  and  inadequately  understood.1 

The  wheat  rusts  produce  in  order,  from  spring  to  spring,  four 
different  forms  of  spores.  (1)  Aecidiospores  (injuring  spores) 
are  the  first  spores  found  in  the  year.  They  occur  on  shrubs, 
or  herbs  other  than  grasses.  (2)  Uredospores  (blight  spores) 
appear  in  the  early  summer,  and  are  often  called  summer  spores. 


TWO  FORMS   OF  RUST   SPORES   COMMONLY   FOUND   ON   WHEAT 

At  the  left  is  shown  the  uredospores  of  the  red  rust,  commonly  found  in  early 
summer.  At  the  right,  the  two-celled  teleutospores  or  winter  spores  of  the 
black  rust. 

These  are  the  red  spores  that  rust  the  leaf  of  the  wheat.  (3) 
Teleutospores  (completion  spores)  are  the  last  ones  of  the  sea- 
son. They  are  also  known  as  resting  or  winter  spores.  Their 
dark  color  gave  rise  to  the  term  " black  rust."  (4)  Sporidia 
are  very  minute  and  delicate  spore  bodies  formed  in  the  spring 
on  the  germination  tubes  of  the  winter  spores.  The  sporidia 
infect  the  plant  that  is  host  to  the  secidium  stage.  The 
question  of  a  breeding  act  in  the  rust  life  cycle  is  still  an  un- 
settled one. 

When  the  aecidiospore  lodges  upon  the  wheat  leaf  or  stalk 
in  the  spring,  it  remains  in  a  resting  condition  until  a  light 
1  The   works  of  Bolley,   Carleton    and    Freeman    will    be    found 
most  useful  in  a  study  of  rusts. 


162 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


to  grow  smutted  wheat  because  it  has  always  done  so,  and  be- 
cause the  extent  of  the  loss  and  the  ease  of  its  prevention  are 
so  little  realized.  Formerly  at  least  one-fifth  of  the  cereal 
crops  was  annually  destroyed  by  smut.  Smutty  wheat  intro- 
duces a  large  element  of  speculation  into  the  business  of  ele- 
vator men,  for  it  produces  a  very  low  grade  of  flour.  Such  wheat 
must  be  washed,  an  expensive  process  which  also  endangers  the 
quality  of  the  flour.  From  smutted  flour  the  baker  gets  a  poor, 
darkened  product  that  finds  little  market.  As  a  result  smutted 
wheat  is  justly  thrown  into  a  very  low,  or  "rejected"  grade. 

Rust. — What  is  popularly  termed 
wheat  rust  may  be  the  result  of 
one  or  more  of  a  number  of  rust 
fungi,  parasitic  plants.  This  dis- 
ease was  mentioned  by  Virgil.  It 
was  known  in  Britain  before  1592. 
Fontana  (1767)  is  generally  ac- 
credited with  connecting  rust  of 
cereals  with  a  specific  fungus, 
which  Persoon  (1797)  investigated 
more  fully,  and  named.  Three  kinds 
of  rusts  are  known  to  attack  wheat. 
Puccinia  coronata,  the  crown  rust, 
is  comparatively  unimportant.  The 
two  distinctive  rusts  are  Puccinia 
orange  leaf-rust,  and  P.  gram- 
inis,  the  late,  stem-rust.  The  former  is  popularly  called  "red" 
and  the  latter  "black"  rust.  Both  species,  however,  produce 
first  reddish  and  then  black  spores,  but  in  the  orange  leaf-rust 
the  red  spores  are  far  more  abundant  than  the  black  ones,  while 
in  the  stem-rust  the  black  spores  are  the  more  abundant. 

LIFE  HISTORY. — The  wheat  rusts  belong  to  that  type  of 
fungi  which  have  several  stages  of  development  represented  by 
different  types  of  spore  formation  and  separated  by  two  or 
more  rest  periods.  The  life  history  is  the  development  of  the 
fungus  through  all  its  stages,  and  it  is  said  to  be  "known" 
when  the  experimenter  can  take  one  type  of  spore  formation 
and  from  this  produce  artificially  all  of  the  other  types  in 
turn  through  the  life  cycle  until  a  return  is  made  to  the  type 
of  spore  formation  with  which  he  began.  Usually  the  types 


AECIDIA  ON  BARBERRY 


rubigo-vera,     the     early, 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT 


163 


of  spores  characteristic  of  the  different  stages  in  the  life  cycle 
of  such  a  fungus  are  so  different  in  form  and  character  and  so 
divergent  in  their  modes  of  development  and  subsequent  habits 
of  growth  as  to  mislead  the  investigator  completely  and  excite 
no  idea  of  relationship.  Several  entirely  different  types  of  hosts 
are  frequently  utilized  in  the  life  cycle.  It  is  because  of  their 
complex  life  history  that  rusts  have  so  long  been  shrouded  in 
mystery  and  confusion,  and  inadequately  understood.1 

The  wheat  rusts  produce  in  order,  from  spring  to  spring,  four 
different  forms  of  spores.  (1)  Aecidiospores  (injuring  spores) 
are  the  first  spores  found  in  the  year.  They  occur  on  shrubs, 
or  herbs  other  than  grasses.  (2)  Uredospores  (blight  spores) 
appear  in  the  early  summer,  and  are  often  called  summer  spores. 


TWO  FORMS   OF  RUST   SPORES   COMMONLY   FOUND   ON   WHEAT 

At  the  left  is  shown  the  uredospores  of  the  red  rust,  commonly  found  in  early 
summer.  At  the  right,  the  two-celled  teleutospores  or  winter  spores  of  the 
black  rust. 

These  are  the  red  spores  that  rust  the  leaf  of  the  wheat.  (3) 
Teleutospores  (completion  spores)  are  the  last  ones  of  the  sea- 
son. They  are  also  known  as  resting  or  winter  spores.  Their 
dark  color  gave  rise  to  the  term  " black  rust."  (4)  Sporidia 
are  very  minute  and  delicate  spore  bodies  formed  in  the  spring 
on  the  germination  tubes  of  the  winter  spores.  The  sporidia 
infect  the  plant  that  is  host  to  the  aBcidium  stage.  The 
question  of  a  breeding  act  in  the  rust  life  cycle  is  still  an  un- 
settled one. 

When  the  a3cidiospore  lodges  upon  the  wheat  leaf  or  stalk 
in  the  spring,  it  remains  in  a  resting  condition  until  a  light 

1  The   works   of  Bolley,   Carleton    and    Freeman    will    be    found 
most  useful  in  a  study  of  rusts. 


164 


THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


rain  or  dew  furnishes  sufficient  moisture  for  germination.  A 
small  thread  or  filament  is  then  sent  out,  which  requires  but 
an  hour  or  two  to  pass  through  a  breathing  pore  of  the  wheat 
plant,  or,  in  the  absence  of  a  convenient  breathing  pore,  to 
bore  its  way  into  the  stem  or  leaf,  within  which  a  mycelium 
is  formed.  An  ordinary  dewdrop  may  contain  hundreds  of 
secidiospores  that  have  been  wafted  to  it  upon  the  air.  The 
time  required  for  the  rust  to  break  out  as  a  spot  or  pustule, 
after  the  germination  of  the  infecting  spore,  varies  from  8  to 
14  days,  for  it  is  dependent  upon  atmospheric  conditions.  This 
breaking  out  through  the  skin  of  the  wheat 
plant  is  the  result  of  the  great  numbers  of 
ovoid  spores  that  are  formed,  and  these  red 
summer  spores,  the  uredospores,  are  thus 
enabled  to  drop  off  and  float  away  upon  the 
air  to  other  wheat  plants.  If  moisture  is 
present  they  germinate  at  once,  and  the  en- 
tire above  process  is  repeated.  Several  gen- 
erations of  the  red  spores  may  be  formed 
during  one  growing  season.  Countless  myriads 
of  spores  are  thus  produced,  a  pustule  1-16 
by  1-64  of  an  inch  in  size  containing  over 
3,000  such  spores.  Under  favorable  conditions 
the  rustiness  of  the  grain  increases  with  mar- 
velous rapidity.  In  the  meantime  the  spore 
beds  which  produced  the  first  red  spores  are 
not  inactive,  but  are  producing  teleutospores, 
that  is,  the  black  winter  or  resting  spores. 
These  are  thick-coated,  Indian-club  shaped, 
and  two-celled.  They  may  now  also  appear 
in  new  spore  beds  in  which  no  red  spores 
have  first  formed.  Over  2,000  of  these  spores 
have  been  counted  in  a  pustule  1-16  by 
1-48  of  an  inch  in  size.  No  rest- 
ing spores  have  been  observed  to  germinate  until  late  in  the 
following  winter.  When  they  sprout  a  germ  tube  (pro-mycelium) 
proceeds  from  each  of  their  two  cells.  These  germ  tubes  soon 
divide  into  four  cells  which  immediately  produce  severel  mi- 
nute, delicate  cells  known  as  sporidia.  If  sufficient  moisture 
is  present,  the  sporidia  will  germinate  at  once.  If  not,  many 


BLACK  AND  RED 
RUST 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT  165 

of  them  may  dry  sufficiently  to  be  carried  by  the  wind,  yet 
not  enough  to  be  injured.  In  the  early  spring  months  the 
damp  straw  and  the  ground  and  surface  waters  of  an  old  wheat 
field  may  be  swarming  with  countless  millions  of  these  sporidia, 
and  clouds  of  them  are  wafted  by  the  winds  to  distant  points. 
No  evidence  has  yet  been  secured,  however,  that  the  sporidia 
directly  infect  the  wheat  plant.  Those  of  the  stem  rust  infect 
the  fruit  and  leaves  of  the  barberry  bush,  and,  as  far  as 
known,  no  other  plants.  Little  cups  and  clusters  of  cups  of 
yellow  spor°s  are  formed.  The  floors  of  the  cups  start  pali- 
sade-like chains  of  the  spores,  which,  when  mature,  again  take 
wings  with  the  wind.  These  are  the  wheat  infecting  aecidio- 
spores  with  which  we  began,  and  the  life  cycle  is  thus  complete. 

At  the  present  writing  the  life  history  of  all  wheat  rusts  is 
not  perfectly  and  certainly  known  in  all  its  phases,  but  it  is 
quite  conclusively  known  that  in  some  cases  certain  stages  of 
the  life  cycle  which  is  given  above  (and  which  describes  the 
stem  rust  more  correctly  and  fully  than  any  other)  are  not 
essential.  The  cluster  cup  form  of  rust,  found  on  barberry 
bushes  in  black  stem  rust,  forms  on  common  wild  plants  of 
the  borage  family  in  the  case  of  orange  leaf  rust.  In  Europe 
it  forms  on  hound 's-tongue,  but  this  stage  of  the  rust  seems 
to  be  absent  in  the  United  States.  In  crown  rust  of  wheat  the 
cluster  cup  stage  commonly  forms  on  the  buckthorn. 

It  is  now  established  that  the  uredospores  of  a  number  of 
the  important  rusts,  including  Puccinia  graminis,  can  pass  the 
northern  winter  in  viable  form.  Dried  and  scattered  by  the 
August  and  July  winds,  a  very  large  per  cent  of  these  rust 
spores  germinated  after  a  dry  fall  and  a  North  Dakota  winter.1 
In  the  warmer  climates  the  leaf  rust  not  only  survives  the 
winter  in  the  red  spore  stage,  but  forms  new  pustules  every 
month  of  the  year.  Viable  spores  of  both  rusts  successfully 
pass  the  winter  frozen  in  snow  and  ice.  The  very  early  general 
infection  by  rust  can  hardly  be  explained  by  the  wintering 
uredospores,  however.  Experiments  by  Bolley  show  quite  con- 
clusively that  the  infection  comes  by  way  of  the  air  and  not  by 
way  of  the  soil.  It  is  thought  possible  that  rust  filaments 
passing  the  winter  in  green  plants,  and  also  broken  particles 
of  the  mycelium  from  the  crop  of  the  previous  year,  may  aid  in 

1  Bolley,   Science,   N.   S.   22:50-1. 


166  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

the  infection.  While  it  has  been  generally  held  that  seed  from 
rusted  wheat  will  not  transmit  rust  to  succeeding  crops,1  the 
observations  of  Bolley  in  1904  and  1905  proved  that  seed  from 
badly  rusted  wheat  plants  was  quite  uniformly  infected  in- 
ternally, there  being  spore  beds  beneath  the  bran  layer,  con- 
taining both  uredospores  and  teleutospores  that  subsequently 
germinated.2  This  demands  a  new  line  of  investigation,  for 
it  has  not  yet  been  demonstrated  whether  or  not  the  internally 
infected  seeds  will  transmit  the  infection  to  the  plants  grown 
from  them.  Variations  in  the  spore  forms  and  in  the  com- 
plicated life  cycle  of  rusts  give  them  great  strength  in  self- 
perpetuation,  the  different  methods  of  which  present  several 
chances  of  escaping  threatening  destructions.  Many  wild 
grasses  also  serve  as  hosts  for  the  wheat  rusts.  They  may  be 
infected  from  wheat  and  wheat  from  them,  which  is  another 
resource  that  aids  rust  in  maintaining  itself. 

Distribution  of  Rusts. — Rusts  being  true  parasites  able  to 
live  only  in  the  tissue  of  some  host,  their  distribution  is  co- 
extensive with  that  of  their  native  hosts  and  that  of  the  wheat 
crop,  with  one  single  restriction.  Only  in  countries  where  no 
dews  set  and  no  rains  fall  are  rusts  absent,  for  moisture  is  es- 
sential to  their  first  growth  which  causes  the  infection  of  the 
host  plant.  In  irrigated  regions  where  dew  and  rain  are  lack- 
ing, wheat  grows  without  being  rusted.  The  leaf  rust  is  most 
regular  in  its  occurrence  and  is  also  most  widely  and  univer- 
sally distributed.  It  is  the  most  common  rust  of  Australia  and 
India,  and  in  the  United  States  it  is  most  abundant  in  the  At- 
lantic and  southern  states.  The  stem  rust  is  irregular  in  its 
occurrence,  usually  missing  one  or  two  years  in  five  or  six,  es- 
pecially in  some  localities.  In  the  United  States  the  severe 
attacks  occur  most  frequently  in  the  central  states,  and  in 
parts  of  Texas  and  California.  This  rust  is  very  common  in 
northern  Europe,  and  in  some  seasons  it  is  also  quite  abundant 
in  Australia  and  Tasmania.  It  seems  to  be  comparatively  un- 
important in  India.3 

Conditions  Favorable  to  Rust  Development.— There  must  first 
be  such  a  wind  from  infected  districts  as  will  bring  plenty  of 

1  TL   S.   Dept.   Agr.,   Farm.   Bui.    219    (1905),   p.    8;   Minn.   Press 
Bui.  24. 

2  N.  D.  Bui.  68   (1906),  p.  646. 

3  Carleton,  Cereal  rusts  of  U.  S.,  pp.  21-22.  56-57. 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT  167 

rust  spores  to  the  heading  wheat.  That  the  spores  are  thus 
brought  to  the  wheat  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  screened  plants 
are  not  rusted,  and  that  distilled  water  exposed  to  the  air  will 
gather  great  numbers  of  the  spores  in  the  short  period  of  a 
half  hour.  The  more  soft  and  succulent  the  wheat  straw  is,  the 
more  open  it  is  to  rust  infection.  "The  most  effective  rust  in- 
fection weather  may  be  described  as  muggy,  showery,  sultry, 
rather  still  hot  days,  with  foggy,  cool,  dewy  nights,  at  about 
the  blossom  period.  Just  following  the  infection,  cool,  moist, 
slow  growing,  showery  weather  may  result  in  the  most  general 
rust  infection,  and  in  the  greatest  breaking  out  or  rupturing  of 
the  straw." 

How  Damage  Results. — Rust  deprives  the  wheat  grains  of 
their  nourishment.  The  grains  may  be  only  slightly  shriveled, 
or  the  crop  may  be  completely  ruined.  It  has  been  claimed  that 
orange  leaf  rust  does  little  damage  to  wheat,  and  that  in  very 
wet  seasons  it  may  even  be  of  benefit  to  the  grain  by  preventing 
superabundant  growth  of  the  vegetative  parts.  This  has  been 
denied  recently,  however,  and  with  good  show  of  reason.  It  is 
pointed  out  that  in  1904  and  1905  the  leaf  rust  was  so  severe 
that  the  wheat  grains  wilted  and  shriveled  before  the  stem 
rust  was  well  developed  on  the  straw.  The  leaf  rust  may  also 
delay  the  ripening  of  the  crop  until  injury  from  frost  results.2 
Since  the  attack  of  the  stem  rust  is  the  more  direct,  it  is  un- 
questionably the  more  virulent. 

The  Loss  From  Wheat  Rust  in  the  United  States  doubtless 
exceeds  that  caused  by  any  other  fungous  or  insect  pest,  and  it 
may  be  greater  than  the  loss  from  all  other  diseases  combined. 
It  is  often  not  noticed  because  it  is  light.  In  one  or  another  of 
the  wheat  growing  sections,  great  areas  are  partially  to  nearly 
completely  destroyed  each  year.  While  almost  fabulous  figures 
are  required  to  record  the  estimated  annual  loss,  the  proba- 
bilities  are  that  this  is  underestimated,  for  the  slight,  unnoticed 
attacks  never  enter  the  computation.  If  the  loss  is  but  1  per 
cent  of  the  wheat  crop,  it  approximates  $5,000,000  annually  in 
the  United  States  alone.  Bolley  examined  the  wheat  fields  of 
North  Dakota  for  fourteen  seasons,  and,  leaving  out  of  con- 
sideration the  years  of  great  destruction,  he  estimated  the 

1  N.  D.   Bui.   68    (1906),  p.   655. 

2  N.  D.  Bui.  68   (1906),  pp.  651-654. 


168  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

average  annual  loss  at  10  per  cent.  In  1903  the  loss  in  southern 
Wisconsin  was  50  per  cent  and  in  South  Carolina  30  per  cent. 
In  1904  the  wheat  crop  of  Minnesota  and  the  Dakotas  was 
most  promising,  but  in  a  few  days  it  was  so  damaged  by  rust 
that  experts  estimated  the  loss  for  the  three  states  at  30,000,000 
bushels,  and  the  wheat  that  was  produced  in  many  instances 
weighed  only  from  36  to  48  pounds  per  measured  bushel.  Many 
fields  were  not  harvested.  Twenty  million  dollars  seems  a  rea- 
sonable estimate  for  the  average  yearly  loss  from  wheat  rust 
in  the  United  States.  Immense  annual  losses  are  suffered  by 
the  Australian,  Russian  and  Argentine  wheat  fields.  In  some 
years  the  loss  in  England  is  50  per  cent.  Nor  is  this  the  only 
form  of  loss  that  must  be  attributed  to  rust,  for  it  is  one  of 
the  chief  hindrances  that  entirely  prevent  the  growing  of 
wheat  in  parts  of  certain  moist  warm  countries,  such  as  China 
and  Japan. 

Remedies. — Thus  far  rust  has  baffled  every  attempt  at  a 
remedy.  Fungicides  and  spraying  have  been  experimented  with, 
but  indirect  methods  are  the  only  ones  that  have  proved  of 
any  aid  in  the  combat.  All  conditions  are  helpful  that  tend  to 
mature  the  wheat  crop  before  the  rust  becomes  abundant. 
Fields  should  be  properly  drained.  Good  clean  seed  of  a  pure 
variety  and  of  the  best  germinating  powers  should  be  sown 
in  soil  properly  prepared.  The  seeding  should  be  early,  and  the 
crop  should  be  kept  free  from  smut  and  weeds.  All  of  these 
things  strengthen  the  wheat  plant  and  hasten  its  growth.  Ro- 
tation of  crops  is  also  advantageous.  Wild  grasses  and  weeds 
of  the  roadsides  should  be  mown,  and  all  barberry  shrubs  should 
be  killed.  The  fields  should  be  kept  free  from  volunteer  grains. 
The  line  of  demarcation  between  the  winter  and  spring  wheat 
belts  should  be  sharply  drawn,  for  the  winter  wheat,  ripening 
early,  develops  rust  in  such  abundance  that  it  will  greatly 
injure  the  later  spring  wheat.  The  early  maturity  of  winter 
varieties  generally  enables  them  to  escape  serious  damage. 

One  of  the  most  hopeful  phases  of  the  question  is  that  some 
varieties  of  wheat  are  quite  rust  resistant.  The  different  rusts 
are  each  more  easily  resisted  by  certain  varieties  of  wheat. 
Thousands  of  varieties  have  been  tested  and  bred  to  secure 
rust  resistance.  None  are  absolutely  rust  proof.  "So  far  as 
the  ordinary  wheats  are  concerned,  the  resistant  varieties  are. 


DISEASES  OF  WHEAT  169 

as  a  rule,  somewhat  dwarfed,  are  close  and  compact,  and  stool 
but  little.  The  leaves,  comparatively  few  in  number,  are  stiff, 
narrow  and  erect,  with  a  more  or  less  tough,  dry  cuticle,  often 
with  a  glaucous  or  waxy  surface;  heads  compact  and  narrow; 
and  grains  hard,  red,  small  and  heavy/7 

Varieties  likely  to  prove  considerably  resistant  to  rust  in  the 
United  States,  if  they  are  sown  early,  are,  Kharkof,  Turkey, 
Mennonite,  Pringles  No.  5,  Rieti,  Odessa  and  Pringle's  De- 
fiance for  winter  wheats,  and  Haynes  Blue  Stem  and  Saskat- 
chewan Fife  for  spring  wheats. 

Durum  wheats  are  much  more  resistant  than  other  varieties. 
During  the  great  rust  attack  of  1904  in  the  northwest,  the 
maximum  loss  for  durum  wheat  seems  to  have  been  about  10 
per  cent  while  that  of  ordinary  wheats  was  frequently  as  great 
as  50  per  cent.  The  different  varieties  of  durum  wheat  also 
vary  in  their  power  to  resist  rust,  two  of  the  best  being  lumillo 
and  Velvet  Don.  "Rerraf"  is  one  of  the  best  rust  resisters  in 
Australia,  but  is  quite  non-resistant  in  the  United  States. 

Other  Diseases. — Leaf  blight  (Septosphaeria  tritici  Pass.)  and 
Powdery  mildew  (Erysiphe  graminis  D.  C.)  occasionally  cause 
slight  losses  in  certain  sections. 

1  Carleton,  Cereal  Rusts  of  U.  S.,  p.  21. 


172 


THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


larvae  is  passed  in  the  stubble  in  the  flaxseed  stage.  In  Mich- 
igan the  fall  brood  appears  about  the  last  of  August,  while  in 
Georgia  it  appears  about  3  months  later.  The  eggs  are  now 
deposited  on  the  young  fall  wheat,  and  the  life  cycle  begins  over 
again.  In  regions  far  north  there  may  be  only  one  brood, 
and  m  the  south  there  may  be  supplemental  broods,  both  in 
the  spring  and  fall,  this  being  dependent  on  the  weather 
Drought  prolongs  the  flaxseed  stage. 

In  the  spring  wheat  regions  the  insects  winter  in  the  flaxseed 

stage,   chiefly  in   stubble,   but   also   in   volunteer  wheat     Egg 

laying  begins  late  in  May  and  continues  to  October  1st.    Eggs 

>±ten  deposited  on  grass  and  weeds,  but  the  larvaj  are  not 

known  to  survive  except  on  wheat,  barley  and  rye.     The  fly 


A  B 

HESSIAN  FLY:    a,  ADULT;  b,  PUPA;  c,  LARVA.    ENLARGED 

is  now  known  to  flourish  even  where  spring  crops  are  exclusive- 
ly grown. 

EFFECT  OF  LARVAE  ON  WnEAT.-At  first  the  plant  seems  to 
be  stimulated,  and  turns  a  dark  green  color.  Later  the  in- 
fested tillers  turn  a  brownish  and  then  a  yellowish  color  If 
the  attack  comes  early,  and  the  plant  fails  to  tiller,  death  re- 
sults. If  the  plant  has  tillered,  some  stalks  may  escape  and 
torm  the  basis  for  a  crop.  The  larvas  are  usually  found  just 
above  the  first  joint,  but  may  be  found  from  aHove  the  third 
joint  to  below  the  soil.  The  stalk  is  usually  so  weakened  that 
it  breaks  to  the  ground,  when  the  wheat  is  said  to  be  "  straw 
fallen." 

LOSSES.— The  Hessian  fly  is  the  worst  insect  enemy  of 
growing  wheat.  It  is  never  entirely  absent.  The  minimum 


INSECT  ENEMIES  OP  WHEAT  173 

annual  damage  to  wheat  is  thought  to  average  10  per  cent  of 
the  crop,  that  is,  over  50,000,000  bushels.  In  some  localities 
an  injury  varying  from  50  per  cent  to  total  failure  is  not  in- 
frequent. In  1901  the  loss  in  New  York  was  about  $3,000,000, 
and  the  loss  in  Ontario  was  nearly  as  great.  In  1900  it  was 
$16,800,000  in  Ohio,  and  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  Indiana  wheat 
was  not  harvested  on  account  of  the  fly.  The  outbreak  of  the 
Hessian  fly  in  1900  was  the  most  notable  of  recent  years.  The 
total  loss  for  the  United  States  was  estimated  at  $100,000,000, 
and  milling  operations  were  seriously  hampered  in  the  worst 
affected  region.  The  damage  which  the  fly  does  is  often  laid 
to  rust,  drought  or  other  causes.  In  1904  there  was  little  com- 
plaint of  damage  from  the  insect,  yet  many  fields  in  the  Ohio 
valley  were  injured  to  the  extent  of  over  50  per  cent. 

REMEDIES. — There  are  a  number  of  natural  enemies  which 
attack  the  Hessian  fly  in  the  larval  and  pupal  stages.  Some 
are  native,  and  others  are  being  artifically  introduced.  While 
they  limit  the  damage,  they  are  useful  mainly  where  other 
preventives  are  neglected.  The  best  remedy  for  a  field  of  wheat 
severely  attacked  is  to  plow  deeply,  and  plant  a  spring  crop. 
In  case  of  mild  infection,  the  prompt  use  of  fertilizer  may  in- 
crease the  tillering  of  the  wheat  so  as  to  produce  a  partial 
crop.  If  the  crop  has  a  good  growth  pasturing  or  cutting  in 
the  fall  may  be  beneficial.  When  injuries  from  the  fly  may 
be  anticipated,  moderately  late  planting  of  winter  wheat  is 
perhaps  the  best  preventive.  Seeding  for  this  purpose  should 
be  about  the  middle  of  September  in  the  northern  districts, 
during  the  first  half  of  October  in  Kentucky,  and  during  the 
first  half  of  November  in  the  extreme  south.  The  rotation  of 
crops  should  be  practiced.  Burning  or  plowing  under  the 
stubble  is  of  great  advantage.  The  fly  can  be  starved  out 
almost  completely  over  a  district  of  any  size  by  abandoning 
for  one  year  the  culture  of  wheat,  rye  and  barley.  Volunteer 
grains  should  also  be  destroyed.  Early  plantings  of  trap  or 
decoy  crops  will  attract  the  flies,  and,  after  ovipositing,  these 
crops  may  be  plowed  under  deeply.  While  no  varieties  of 
wheat  are  absolutely  "fly  proof,"  some  tiller  more  and  are 
less  injured  than  others,  such  as  Underbill,  Mediterranean, 
Red  Cap,  Red  May  and  Clawson.  Preventive  measures  reduce 
the  annual  loss  from  the  Hessian  fly  by  an  amount  estimated 


174 


THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 


from  $100,000,000  to  $200,000,000  for  the  wheat  crop  alone. 
The  insect  shifts  so  rapidly  from  place  to  place  that  remedies 
are  practically  of  no  avail  unless  there  is  concerted  action  in 
an  infected  region.1 

Chinch  Bug  (Blissus  leucopterus  Say). — This  is  a  native 
insect.  Its  ravages  were  first  noticed  toward  the  close  of  fcho 
eighteenth  century,  and  since  that  time  notable  outbreaks  and 
serious  losses  have  been  quite  constant.  It  is  now  found  from 
Nova  Scotia  and  Manitoba  southward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
as  well  as  on  the  Pacific  coast,  in  Mexico  and  Central  America, 
and  on  several  of  the  West  Indian  Islands.  The  genus  Blissus 
is  widely  distributed  over  the  Old  World.  It  is  a  gregarious 


CHINCH  BUG!      VARIOUS  STAGES  FROM  EGG  TO  ADULT  ENLARGED 

pest,  and  its  destructiveness  is  due  to  this  fact  rather  than  to 
its  enormous  numbers. 

LIFE  HISTORY. — Hibernating  in  grass  stools,  straw,  rubbish 
or  other  shelters,  the  chinch  bug  begins  its  life  cycle  by  a 
spring  flight  to  the  wheat  fields.  The  mating  occurs  at  the 
wheat  roots.  The  eggs  are  deposited  about  May  1st,  from  100 
to  500  by  each  female,  and  the  egg  period  is  of  2  or  3  weeks' 
duration.  The  young  hatch  in  about  2  weeks,  and  at  maturity 
in  July  they  make  a  second  flight  to  late  corn,  millet  or  other 
crops.  In  this  country,  except  in  northern  regions,  a  second 
brood  appears  after  this  flight.  The  second  brood  is  most  in- 
jurious in  August  and  matures  in  September  and  October.  It 
is  the  first  brood  that  injures  wheat,  while  both  broods  attack 
other  crops.  A  short-winged  form  incapable  of  flight  fre- 
quently occurs,  especially  in  maritime  districts.  There  are  a 
number  of  species  of  Hemiptera  that  are  often  mistaken  for 
chinch  bugs. 

1  Marlett,  Principal  Insect  Enemies  of  Growing  Wheat;  Osborn, 
Hessian  Fly  in  the  United  States. 


INSECT  ENEMIES  OF  WHEAT  175 

THE  CHIEF  LOSSES  are  occasioned  in  the  Ohio  and  upper 
Mississippi  valleys,  and  on  the  Atlantic  coast  highland.  It 
does  more  damage  to  wheat  than  to  any  other  crop,  and  the 
average  annual  loss  is  about  5  per  cent  of  the  crop.1  In  years 
when  the  chinch  bugs  were  unusually  severe,  the  damage  to 
wheat  in  single  states  has  been  estimated  to  be  from  ten  to 
twenty  million  dollars.  The  losses  are  great  because  of  the 
wide  distribution  of  the  pest,  its  prevalence  to  some  extent 
every  year,  and  its  enormous  multiplication  in  favorable  sea- 
sons. 

REMEDIES. — (1)  Burning  over  the  land;  especially  should 
this  be  done  on  waste  and  grass  lands,  and  all  rubbish  should 
be  burned.  Grass  is  not  injured  by  being  burned  over  after 
the  ground  is  frozen.  It  has  been  thought  that  the  chinch  bug 
was  kept  in  check  by  the  annual  prairie  fires  in  the  early  years 
of  our  country,  the  hibernating  bugs  being  thus  killed.  Chinch 
bugs  and  other  insects  injurious  to  growing  grain  are  practi- 
cally unknown  on  the  Pacific  coast,  where  the  large  wheat 
fields  are  regularly  burned  over  every  year  by  burning  the 
straw.  (2)  Trap  or  decoy  crops,  such  as  millet  or  Hungarian 
grass;  these  should  be  plowed  under.  When  the  young  insects 
hatch,  they  easily  reach  the  surface,  but  will  perish  if  no 
crops  are  near.  (3)  Rotation;  this  involves  a  system  disas- 
sociating small  grains  from  corn.  (4)  Plowing;  deeply  plow- 
ing under  the  bugs  collected  on  the  edge  of  a  field  is  help- 
ful. (5)  Spraying;  the  edge  of  the  field  infested  may  be 
sprayed  with  a  very  strong  oily  insecticide,  even  if  the  crop  is 
killed  with  the  bugs.  (6)  Protecting  furrows.  (7)  Coal-tar 
barriers.  (8)  Artificial  spreading  of  parasitic  fungi;  consid- 
erable work  has  been  done  in  this  line,  with  the  conclusion  that 
it  is  of  little  value.  The  bug  is  practically  exterminated  for 
the  season,  however,  by  wet  weather  and  various  fungous  dis- 
eases which  this  causes.  (9)  Many  bugs  are  also  destroyed  by 
birds,  especially  quails.2 

The  Wheat  Midge  (Diplosis  tritici  Kirby)  belongs  to  the 
same  order  of  insects  as  the  Heesian  fly,  but  in  appearance  and 
habit  it  is  entirely  distinct.  It  is  believed  to  be  identical  with  the 
notorious  wheat  midge  of  Europe,  and  it  may  also  have  been  in- 

1  Yearbook    U.    S.    Dept.    Agr.,    1904,   p.   466. 

2  Webster,  The  Chinch  Bug;  Howard,  The  Chinch  Bug. 


176 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


troduced  into  America  in  straw.  It  probably  appeared  first 
in  Quebec,  and  has  now  spread  throughout  the  Mississippi 
valley.  The  injury  is  inflicted  by  its  orange-yellow  larvae  which 
extract  the  milky  juice  from  the  embryos  forming  in  the  wheat 
heads,  thus  causing  the  grain  to  shrivel  and  the  heads  to 
blight.  In  cases  of  unusual  outbreaks  the  average  losses  of 
whole  states  have  been  from  two-thirds  to  three-fourths  of  the 
entire  yield.  The  wheat  midge  oviposits  directly  in  the  wheat 
head.  The  eggs  hatch  in  about  a  week,  and  the  larvae  enter 
the  kernel  at  once.  They  have  extraordinary  vitality,  thrive 
best  in  moist  weather,  and  winter  in  the  ground,  which  they 
enter  about  three  weeks  after  hatching.  Plowing  old  wheat 


WHEAT  MIDGE:    a,  FEMALE;  b,  MALE;  c,  LARVA.    ENLARGED 

fields  deeply,  burning  the  chaff  and  screenings  of  wheat  from 
infested  fields,  and  rotating  crops  are  preventives. 

The  Wheat  Plant  Lice  cause  injury  by  sucking  their  food 
from  the  soft,  forming  kernels.  The  yield  may  be  reduced  by 
as  much  as  one-half,  but  extensive  damage  rarely  occurs.  The 
annual  loss  is  thought  to  be  at  least  2  per  cent. 

Locusts  or  Grasshoppers. — The  locust,  formerly  present  in 
some  years  in  such  overwhelming  numbers  that  large  swarms 
devastated  extensive  areas  of  all  vegetation,  has  during  the  last 
decade  ceased  to  be  of  such  great  economic  importance.  Locust 
plagues  seem  to  occur  occasionally  on  all  of  the  continents, 
and  do  not  seem  to  be  limited  to  comparatively  newly  settled 


INSECT  ENEMIES   OF  WHEAT  177 

regions.  From  1889  to  1897  they  wrought  frightful  havoc  in 
Argentina,  visiting  347,000,000  acres  in  the  latter  year,  and 
destroying  30  per  cent  of  the  crops.  From  1897  to  1900  the 
Argentine  government  spent  over  $7,000,000  in  an  attempt  to 
exterminate  them.  The  limit  of  the  invaded  region  was  steadily 
pushed  northward,  until  in  1901  locusts  were  entirely  absent 
from  the  wheat  area.  They  came  into  Argentina  from  Bo- 
livia, the  territory  of  the  Chaco,  and  western  Brazil.  Bar- 
celona, Spain,  reported  a  plague  of  locusts  spreading  in  1902.  In 
west  central  Asia,  between  Askabad  and  Krasnovodsk,  the  cereal 
and  cotton  crops  are  commonly  devastated  by  locusts.  In  1903, 
50,000  roubles  were  set  aside  to  be  devoted  to  the  destruction 
of  the  insects'  eggs  in  trans-Caspia.  It  is  claimed  that  sacked 
flour  piled  on  open  railway  trucks  near  Krasnovodsk  was  de- 
voured by  clouds  of  rapacious  locusts  in  an  incredibly  short 
time.1 
In  the  United  States  during  the  early  seventies  the  grass- 


WHEAT  PLANT-LOUSE:    a,  WINGED  ADULT;  b,  FEMALE;  c,  NYMPH. 

ENLARGED 

hoppers  used  to  invade  Kansas  "so  they  would  block  railroad 
trains  and  destroy  all  vegetation. "  In  the  Red  river  valley 
they  appeared  in  great  clouds  which  "cleaned  the  country 
quite  thoroughly  on  their  flight."3  These  invasions  seem  to 
have  come  mainly  from  the  permanent  breeding  grounds  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  locust  (Caloptenus  spretus  Uhler).  These 
grounds  were  located  approximately  between  the  meridians  of 
102  and  112  degrees,  and  between  the  40th  and  55th  parallels. 

1  Mo.  Sum.  Commerce  and  Finance,  Feb.,  1904,  p.  2818. 

2  Industrial  Commission,  10:759. 

3  Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Ass'n,  1900,  p.  184. 


178  THE    BOOK    OP   WHEAT 

East  of  this  territory  was  a  frequently  invaded  strip  about  five 
degrees  in  width.  A  great  scope  of  territory  farther  east, 
south  and  west  was  periodically  visited  when  the  natural  con- 
ditions on  the  permanent  breeding  grounds  were  such  as  to 
produce  myriads  of  grasshoppers.  They  could  live  only  one 
generation  on  the  lower  lands,  and  then  perished.  Large  por- 
tions of  their  grounds  are  now  cultivated,  and  this  restricts 
their  multiplication.  It  is  thus  perhaps  impossible  for  such 
overwhelming  swarms  to  occur  as  formerly.  Such  swarms  as 
do  occasionally  appear  are  more  localized,  and  not  of  such  un- 
controllable magnitude.  They  may  still  be  relatively  abund- 
ant, however.  During  1901  in  Canada,  several  hundred  insects 
could  be  seen  "to  the  yard,"  and  "dead  locusts  could  be 
gathered  up  in  wagon  loads  and  at  times  be  smelt  for  half  a 
mile,"  after  poison  had  been  used.  In  Montana  they  fre- 
quently devastate  ranges  so  that  the  herds  must  seek  pasture 
elsewhere. 

The  Eocky  Mountain  Locust  lays  its  eggs  in  almost  any  kind 
of  soil,  preferably  in  bare,  sandy  places  on  high  and  dry  ground. 
They  are  laid  chiefly  in  the  first  inch  of  soil,  and  in  masses  or 
pods  surrounded  by  a  mucous  fluid,  each  pod  containing  about 
30  eggs.  The  average  laying  season  extends  over  6  to  10  weeks, 
and  about  3  egg  masses  are  formed  by  each  female.  The  time  of 
hatching  depends  entirely  on  the  climate  and  latitude.  While 
the  young  locust  is  very  active,  it  will  remain  almost  stationary 

if  food  is  plenty.  The  migrating 
propensity  is  developed  only  after 
the  first  molt,  and  frequently  not 
until  after  the  second  or  third. 

I  When  food  becomes  scarce  the  lo- 
custs migrate,  often  in  a  body  a  mile 
wide.  From  the  very  first  they  con- 
ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GRASS-  SreSate  an<*  display  gregarious  in- 
HOPPER;  a,  PUPA;  b,  FULL  stmcts'  They  feed  as  they  advance, 
GROWN  LARVA;  c,  YOUNG  devounnS  everything  in  their  path. 

LARVA.      NATURAL  SIZE.         If     ^     ar6     numerOUS     enough     to 

devastate  a  region,  they  are  forced 

lo  feed  upon  one  another,  and  immense  numbers  perish 
from  debility  and  starvation.  They  usually  move  only 
during  the  warmer  hours  of  the  day,  and  in  no  particular 


INSECT  ENEMIES  OF  WHEAT  179 

direction,  but  purely  in  search  of  food.  They  generally 
march  for  one  day,  however,  in  the  direction  begun.  If 
the  vanguard  does  change  its  course,  the  new  direction  seems 
to  be  communicated  in  some  way  to  those  in  the  rear,  which 
follow  in  wave-like  form.  There  sometimes  occurs  the  singular 
spectacle  of  two  schools  crossing  each  other,  the  individuals 
of  each  keeping  to  their  own  course.  Some  remarkable  records 
have  been  made  of  phenomena  resulting  from  the  encountering 
of  obstacles  to  the  march.  In  Europe  Dongingk  claims  to  have 
seen  them  cross  the  Dniester  for  over  one  German  mile,  and  in 
layers  7  or  8  inches  thick.  "In  1875,  near  Lane,  Kansas,  they 
crossed  the  Pottawatomie  Creek,  which  is  about  4  rods  wide,  by 
millions;  while  the  Big  and  Little  Blues,  tributaries  of  the 
Missouri,  near  Independence,  the  one  about  100  feet  wide  at 
its  mouth  and  the  other  not  so  wide,  were  crossed  at  numerous 
places  by  the  moving  armies,  which  would  march  down  to  the 
water's  edge  and  commence  jumping  in,  one  upon  another,  till 
they  would  pontoon  the  stream,  so  as  to  effect  a  crossing.  Two 
of  these  mighty  armies  also  met,  one  moving  east  and  the  other 
west,  on  the  river  bluff,  in  the  same  locality,  and  each  turning 
their  course  north  and  down  the  bluff,  and  coming  to  a  perpen- 
dicular ledge  of  rock  25  to  30  feet  high,  passed  over  in  a  sheet 
apparently  6  or  7  inches  thick,  and  causing  a  roaring  noise 
similar  to  a  cataract  of  water." 

Their  unfledged  existence  terminates  in  about  7  weeks.  During 
this  time,  even  without  change  of  direction,  they  could  not 
travel  over  30  miles.  The  swarms  of  winged  insects  will  per- 
haps cover  over  an  average  advance  of  20  miles  a  day.  They 
spread  most  rapidly  4  or  5  days  after  they  become  winged, 
when,  with  a  strong  and  favorable  wind,  they  may  reach  a  maxi- 
mum of  from  200  to  300  miles  a  day,  and  50  miles  per  hour.  The 
swarms  generally  move  toward  the  south  and  southeast.  This 
locust  is  single-brooded,  dies  with  the  approach  of  cold  weather, 
and  normally  hibernates  in  the  egg  state.  Other  kinds  of  de- 
structive locusts  occur,  as  lesser  migratory,  non-migratory,  red- 
legged,  California  devastating,  differential,  two-striped,  pel- 
lucid, and  American  Acridium,  but  the  damage  occasioned  by 
these  has  never  been  comparable  to  that  caused  by  the  Rocky 
Mountain  species. 

i  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Entomol.,  Bui.  25,  pp.  21-22. 


180  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

REMEDIES. — Several  methods  are  quite  effective  in  bringing 
about  the  destruction  of  locusts.  They  have  many  natural 
enemies,  such  as  parasitic  fungi  and  insects  and  birds.  These 
should  be  protected.  Experiments  have  been  made  by  intro- 
ducing fungi,  especially  from  South  Africa.  They  were  arti- 
ficially spread,  but  with  little  success.  Deep  fall  plowing  for 
the  destruction  of  the  eggs  is  perhaps  the  best  remedy  known. 
In  western  Colorado  "ballooning"  used  to  be  practiced.  The 
insects  were  caught  in  a  large  open  sack  by  riding  a  horse 
rapidly  across  the  field.  A  bounty  of  one  cent  a  pound  was 
paid  for  the  insects,  and  the  rider  earned  from  $5  to  $10  per  day. 
Undoubtedly  the  most  effective  remedy  after  the  locusts  are 
hatched  is  to  scatter  bran  or  horse  droppings  poisoned  with 
Paris  green  around  the  field  before  the  locusts  have  entered  it. 

In  Argentina  the  best 
results  were  attained  "by 
the  use  of  torches  dipped 
in  tar."  The  great  abun- 
dance of  locusts  in  cer- 
tain years  is  doubtless  the 
result  of  a  coincidence 
of  climatic  conditions  fa- 
vorable to  their  develop- 
SPRING  GRAIN-APHIS  OR  GREEN  ment  and  the  absence  to 
BUG.  ENLARGED  a  great  degree  of  natural 

destroyers. 

The  Spring  Grain  Aphis  (Toxoptera  graminum  Rond).— This 
species,  popularly  called  the  "green  bug,"  was  first  described 
in  1852,  and  30  years  later  it  was  discovered  in  America.  It  is 
found  most  abundantly  in  the  southwest.  This  pest  can  be 
found  in  the  wheat  fields  during  any  year,  throughout  the  in- 
fested region,  but  it  is  rather  erratic  in  its  outbreaks.  In  ordi- 
nary seasons  it  is  held  in  check  by  its  natural  enemies.  It  is 
extensively  parasitized,  and  lady  beetles  devour  both  young  and 
old.  It  can  withstand  a  lower  temperature  than  its  enemies, 
however,  and  outbreaks  occur  after  a  mild,  open  winter  fol- 
lowed by  a  late  and  wet  spring.  Such  outbreaks  occurred  in 
1890,  1900  and  1907.  In  the  south  it  may  breed  all  winter,  and 
It  has  an  enormous  rate  of  increase.  The  eggs  are  laid  among 
the  grain  plants  in  the  fields.  Wheat  and  rye  are  the  chief 


INSECT  ENEMIES  OF  WHEAT  181 

foods,  but  the  insect  thrives  on  the  other  cereals  also,  and  on 
orchard  grass.     Late  sowing  is  a  preventive  measure. 

Other  Insect  Enemies.— The  most  important  of  these  are  the 
wheat  straw-worms,  the  wheat  bulb  worm,  the  cut-worms,  the 
joint  worm,  several  species  of  sawflies,  and  the  army  worms. 
The  damage  caused  is  local  and  not  great.  Most  of  them  can 
be  more  or  less  controlled. 

The  total  loss  from  insect  enemies  of  growing  wheat  is  es- 
timated to  average  at  least  20  per  cent  of  the  crop.  That  is, 
in  the  absence  of  attacks  from  these  pests,  the  wheat  crop 
would  have  a  value  approximately  $100,000,000  greater  than  it 
now  has. 

General  Remedies. — Cultivation  upsets  the  equilibrium  es- 
tablished by  nature.  The  resulting  environment  may  be  so 
favorable  for  the  development  of  an  insect  as  to  enable  it  to 
multiply  beyond  all  previous  proportions.  The  most  obvious 
remedy  is  to  render  the  conditions  unnatural  for  the  insect 
concerned.  Intelligent  control  presupposes  a  working  knowl- 
edge of  the  insects  to  be  controlled,  and  frequently  the  first 
step  to  be  taken  by  the  American  wheat  grower  is  the  gaining 
of  this  knowledge.  Entomological  difficulties  must  be  forecast 
and  forestalled.  The  state  agricultural  experiment  station  or 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  can  always  aid  in  this,  for  there 
is  a  fairly  effective  remedy  known  for  every  insect  of  great 
importance. 

Where  such  large  areas  are  involved  as  in  wheat  raising, 
remedies  must  be  largely  preventive  and  general.  Summer  fal- 
lowing and  crop  rotation  are  the  most  effective.  These  re- 
sult fatally  for  many  insects  which  are  not  equipped  for  en- 
countering the  sudden  destruction  of  vegetation,  or  the  abrupt 
displacing  of  one  kind  by  another.  Even  if  insects  are  able  to 
migrate  from  one  field  to  another,  disaster  from  adverse  winds, 
storms,  heat  or  cold  may  result  to  the  migrants,  especially  if 
they  are  such  frail  insects  as  the  Hessian  fly  or  the  wheat 
midge.  Good  seed  should  always  be  sown,  and  in  well  prepared 
soil,  for  a  vigorous  crop  can  best  withstand  attacks. 

Insect  Enemies  of  Stored  Wheat.— Several  species  of  insects, 
popularly  known  as  weevils,  cause  extensive  injury  to  stored 
wheat.  Commerce  has  distributed  them  to  all  quarters  of  the 
globe.  In  warm  climates  these  insects  live  an  outdoor  life, 


182  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

while  in  the  colder  parts  of  the  temperate  zones  they  pass  an 
artificial  or  domestic  existence.  Not  only  do  they  occasion 
loss  in  weight,  but  the  grain  which  they  infest  is  unfit  for  con-- 
sumption either  by  man  or  by  most  animals,  and  cannot  be  used 
profitably  for  seed.  Three  species  of  insects  injuring  stored 
wheat  pass  their  adolescent  stages  within  the  kernel  and  are 
universally  the  most  injurious  forms.  They  are  the  rice  and 
granary  weevils  and  the  Angoumois  grain  moth. 

The  Granary  Weevil  (Calandra  granaria  L.). — From  the 
earliest  times  this  weevil  was  known  as  an  enemy  to  stored  grain. 

It  became  domesticated  ages  ago, 
lost  the  use  of  its  wings,  and  is 
now  strictly  an  indoor  species. 
After  the  grain  of  wheat  is  punc- 
tured 03^  the  snout  of  the  female, 
an  egg  is  inserted.  The  resulting 
larva  makes  room  for  its  transfor- 
GRANARY  WEEVIL,  ADULT  mations  within  the  kernel  by  de- 
AND  LARVA.  ENLARGED  vouring  the  mealy  interior.  The 
grains  of  most  cereals  are  inhabited 

by  a  single  larva,  but  several  individuals  can  thrive  in  a 
kernel  of  maize.  The  length  of  the  life  cycle  and 
the  number  of  generations  annually  produced  depend  on 
season  and  climate.  In  southern  United  States  there  may  be 
six  or  more  generations  per  year.  One  pair  is  estimated  to 
produce  6,000  descendants  in  a  single  year.  Besides  wheat, 
they  attack  all  the  other  grains,  and  the  chick-pea.  The  greatest 
damage  is  caused  by  the  long-lived  adults,  which  gnaw  into  the 
kernels  for  food  and  shelter. 

The  Rice  Weevil  (Calandra  oryza  L.)  resembles  the  granary 
weevil  in  structure  and  habits.  It  differs  from  the  granary 
weevil  most  essentially  in  having  well  developed  wings,  and 
consequently  being  often  found  in  the  field.  It  lays  its  eggs 
in  the  standing  grain  in  the  tropics,  and  in  the  extreme  south 
of  the  United  States,  where  it  is  erroneously  called  tl  black 
weevil. "  It  originated  in  India,  was  first  found  in  rice,  and  is 
now  established  in  most  of  the  grain  growing  countries  of  the 
world. 

The  Angoumois  Grain  Moth  (Sitotroga  cerealella  01.). — Since 
1736  the  injuries  of  this  moth  have  been  noticed  in  the  province 


INSECT  ENEMIES  OF  WHEAT  183 

of  Angoumois,  France,  from  which  it  received  its  name.  In 
the  United  States  it  was  noticed  as  early  as  1728,  and  is  often 
incorrectly  called  "fly  weevil."  It  is  widely  spread  and  does 
incalculable  damage  in  the  southern  states.  It  is  rapidly 
spreading,  and  where  it  has  become  established  it  is  more  in- 
jurious than  the  weevils,  also  attacking  grain  in  the  field  as  far 
north  as  central  Pennsylvania. 

The  adult  insect  is  often  mistaken  for  a  clothes  moth.  The 
eggs  are  deposited  in  standing  grain  and  in  the  bin,  singly  or  in 
clusters  of  from  20  to  30.  It  requires  at 
least  4  days  for  the  eggs  to  hatch.  The 
minute  Iarva3  or  caterpillars  burrow  into 
the  kernels  for  food,  and  in  3  weeks  or 
more  they  are  matured.  A  silken  cocoon  is 
then  spun  within  the  kernel,  the  caterpillar 
transforms  to  a  pupa  or  chrysalis,  and  in 

GRAIN  MOTH,  ADULT    &  f  fiw  days  the  moth  jg  again  Qn  the 


AND  LARVA.  jn  favora|,ie  weather  the  life  cycle  requires 
5  weeks,  and  about  8  generations  are  pro- 
duced annually  in  the  south,  where  the  insect  breeds  all  winter. 

The  Mediterranean  Flour  Moth  (Ephestia  kuehniella  Zell.)- 
—  The  most  important  of  all  mill  insects,  it  was  comparatively 
unknown  before  1877,  when  it  was  discovered  in  Germany.  Its 
appearance  was  noticed  in  England  in  1886,  in  Canada  in  1889, 
in  California  in  1892,  and  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  in 
1895.  While  its  range  is  yet  limited,  it  is  rapidly  becoming  dis- 
tributed throughout  tbe  civilized  world.  The  high  and  equable 
temperature  maintained  in  modern  mills  has  made  the  insect  a 
formidable  one,  for  this  condition  is  highly  favorable  to  its 
development. 

Cylindrical  silken  tubes  are  formed  by  the  caterpillars.  They 
feed  in  these  until  full  growth  is  attained,  when  a  new  silken 
domicile  is  formed.  This  becomes  a  cocoon  in  which  occur  the 
transformations  to  pupa  and  imago.  In  the  warmest  weather 
the  life  cycle  is  passed  in  38  days.  It  is  the  habit  of  web 
spinning  that  renders  the  insect  most  injurious.  Infested  flour 
is  soon  felted  together  so  as  to  clog  the  milling  machinery, 
necessitating  prolonged  and  costly  stoppage.  Flour  or  meal 
is  preferred  by  the  larva,  but  in  the  absence  of  these  it  attacks 
grain,  and  it  flourishes  on  bran  and  all  prepared  cereal  foods, 


184 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


including  crackers.    In  California  it  lives  in  ^he  hives  of  honey 
bees. 

Other  Insect  Enemies  of  stored  wheat  and  its  products  are 
the  Indian-meal  moth,  the  meal  snout-moth,  the  flour  beetles, 
the  meal  worms  and  the  grain  beetles,  which  all  occasion  more 
or  less  damage.  As  warm  weather  favors  the  rapid  breeding  of 
all  of  these  insects,  the  losses  are  enormous  in  the  warmer 
climates.  In  the  single  state  of  Texas,  the  weevils  alone  are 
estimated  to  cause  an  annual  loss  to  all  grains  of  over  $1,000,000. 


FLOUR  MOTH:    a,  ADULT;  &,  PUPA;  c,  LARVA.    ENLARGED 

Grain  infested  by  the  Angoumois  grain  moth  may  lose  40  per 
cent  in  weight   and  75  per  cent  in  farinaceous  matter  in  6 

months. 

Remedies.— Nearly  all  the  insect  enemies  of  stored  gram  have 
parasitic  or  predaceous  enemies,  or  both.  Mites  and  spiders 
prey  on  them,  and  several  species  of  chalcis  flies  parasitize 
them.  In  the  field  they  are  preyed  upon  by  nocturnal  insects, 
birds  and  bats.  Preventives  and  insecticidal  remedies  are 
known.  Bisulphide  of  carbon  (one  pound  to  one  ton  of  grain 
or  to  1,000  cu.  ft.  of  empty  space)  is  the  best  insecticide,  and 
naphthaline  the  most  effective  deterrent.  Hydrocyanic-acid 
gas  is  used  in  fumigating  mills  to  rid  them  of  the  Mediterranean 
flour  moth.  Perhaps  the  largest  operation  of  this  kind  ever 
made  was  that  of  exterminating  the  moth  in  a  six-story  mill 
and  its  warehouse,  cleaning  house,  and  elevator,  a  total  of  over 
3  000,000  cubic  feet  of  space.  A  ton  of  cyanide  of  potash  and 


INSECT  ENEMIES  OF  WHEAT  185 

a  ton  and  a  half  of  sulphuric  acid  were  used.  Only  two  living 
Avorms  and  one  moth  were  found,  after  the  operation.  It  will 
perhaps  require  years  for  the  mill  again  to  become  so  infested  as 
to  need  another  treatment. 

There  is  no  weevil-proof  wheat,  but  the  small,  hard-grained 
varieties  are  little  troubled  by  insects.  Advantageous  prac- 
tices for  prevention  are  prompt  threshing,  inspecting,  quaran- 
tining and  disinfecting  grain  and  everything  connected  with  it; 
scrupulous  cleanliness;  construction  of  warehouses  and  mills  to 
exclude  insects;  use  of  improved  machinery  in  mills;  and  stor- 
age in  large  bulk  in  a  cool,  dry,  well-ventilated  repository.1 

General  Needs  and  Results. — With  a  better  and  increasing 
knowledge  of  farm  management,  of  cultural  system,  and  of  the 
natural  destroyers  of  wheat,  it  should  require  less  than  a  gen- 
eration of  time  to  double  the  yield  of  wheat  per  acre.  Thirty 
per  cent  is  certainly  a  very  reasonable  figure  to  represent  the 
average  annual  loss  to  wheat  from  attacks  by  natural  agencies 
of  destruction.  One  of  the  greatest  immediate  needs  is  to  im- 
press the  wheat  grower  with  the  fact  of  this  loss,  for  it  is  often 
little  realized,  especially  when  it  results  from  invisible  or  un- 
perceived  instrumentalities  of  disease  that  secretly  tread  their 
way  through  field  and  plant  over  great  areas  of  the  wheat 
regions. 

To  minimize  the  effects  of  this  great  host  of  natural  de- 
stroyers of  wheat  is  a  task  that  is  profitable,  certain  of  re- 
ward, and  most  imperative  in  its  demands  for  attention.  Since 
wheat  is  raised  the  world  around  in  temperate  zone  climates, 
there  is  little  danger  of  a  world  famine  in  wheat  on  account  of 
their  combined  effects,  for  there  is  always  a  great  probability 
that  large  areas  will  meet  with  normal  conditions.  An  unusual 
coincidence  of  abnormal  conditions  over  wide  regions  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  world  may,  however,  raise  the  price  of  wheat 
and  greatly  change  the  magnitude  and  direction  of  the  com- 
mercial streams  of  wheat  over  the  entire  world.  Such  a 
coincidence  occurred  in  1897,  when  the  world's  wheat  crop  was 
greatly  reduced  by  drought  in  India  and  Australia,  by  whole- 
sale destruction  from  insect  pests  in  Argentina,  by  a  wet  har- 
vest in  France,  and  by  inundation  of  the  wheat  fields  of  Aus- 
tria-Hungary. 

1  Chittenden,   Some  Insects  Injurious  to  Stored  Grain. 


186  $HE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


Insurance.  —  While  scientific  and  artificial  means  may  lessen 
losses  in  many  directions,  the  positive  conditions  in  nature 
which  make  possible  the  operation  of  natural  destroyers  of 
wheat  are  quite  beyond  the  sphere  of  man's  dominion.  In 
some  cases  the  loss  occasioned  can  be  reduced  to  a  small  con- 
stant factor  by  means  of  insurance.  This  is  especially  true 
of  loss  by  storm  or  fire.  Hailstorms  occur  somewhere  every 
season,  but  are  generally  of  very  limited  area,  frequently  ex- 
tending over  but  a  few  square  miles  of  territory.  Consequently 
a  small  premium  affords  protection.  Available  data  concern- 
ing wheat  insurance  are  not  at  all  complete  or  satisfactory. 
The  insurance  of  wheat  in  the  field  is  embraced  in  the  more 
general  subject  of  the  insurance  of  crops  against  destruction  by 
;hail  and  wind.  Companies  insuring  crops  frequently  also  in- 
sure other  forms  of  property.  In  Scotland,  hail  insurance 
existed  at  least  as  early  as  1780.  The  first  known  insurance 
against  hailstorms  in  Germany  is  believed  to  have  been  in 
1797,  when  the  Mecklenburg  Hail  Insurance  Association  of 
Germany  was  founded.  This  company  was  still  in  existence  in 
1878.  For  the  first  50  years  of  its  career  there  was  an  average 
rate  of  3.8  per  cent  of  the  amount  insured.  In  1812  another 
company  was  formed  in  Germany,  having  rates  from  2.5  to  5 
per  cent.  In  1888  there  were  20  mutual  and  5  stock  hail  in- 
surance companies  in  Germany. 

An  attempt  at  hail  insurance  in  France  was  first  made  in 
1801,  by  M.  Barrau,  a  philanthropic  and  enterprising  man  who 
was  ahead  of  his  time.  He  lost  his  fortune  in  the  attempt,  for 
it  was  thought  to  be  an  interference  with  the  dealings  of 
Providence  ;  the  government  bureaus  opposed  the  plan  ;  and  in 
1809  the  council  of  state  suppressed  the  society.  Permanent 
hail  insurance  in  France  dates  from  1823.  The  average  premium 
received  during  the  subsequent  50  years  was  1.05  per  cent, 
while  the  average  loss  was  0.81  per  cent.  The  first  hail  in- 
surance in  Austria  was  written  in  1824,  and  in  England  in 
1842,  the  latter  including  34  acres  of  wheat  at  $58.40  per  acre. 
The  whole  risk  was  $4304.66,  and  paid  a  premium  of  1.6  per 
cent,  and  also  a  stamp  tax  of  $5.41.  In  the  United  States  the 
first  hail  insurance  was  by  the  Mutual  Hail  Insurance  Com- 
pany at  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  in  1850.  It  insured  on  the  cash  plan 
with  premium  notes.  In  1878  it  was  doing  business  in  5  states. 


INSECT  ENEMIES  OP  WHEAT  187 

At  least  as  early  as  1880  insurance  of  crops  against  fire  was 
becoming  popular  in  some  sections  of  the  United  States.  Dur- 
ing the  eighth  decade  38  hail  and  tornado  insurance  companies 
were  transacting  business.  They  were  located  in  12  different 
states  ranging  from  Florida  to  Ohio,  Colorado,*  Michigan  and 
Connecticut.  There  is  apparently  no  hail  in  California. 

There  are  at  present  numerous  companies  maintained  in  the 
north  central  states  for  the  purpose  of  insuring  crops  against 
destruction  by  hail  and  wind.  This  sort  of  insurance  generally 
seems  to  be  confined  to  the  co-operative,  or  assessment  plan. 
The  rate  varies  from  3  to  12  per  cent,  according  to  locality.  In 
California  several  companies  insure  growing  grain  against 
fire  at  a  rate  of  about  1  per  cent  per  annum,  but  in  the 
north  central  states  no  such  insurance  is  written.  In  a  few  of 
these  states  there  have  been  excessive  losses  in  some  years 
upon  the  hail  loss  branch  of  insurance.  Canada  also  has  a 
system  of  hail  insurance.  Extensive  hail  storms  occur  in  Ar- 
gentina and  in  many  districts  insurance  is  generally  secured 
by  the  colonists. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
THE  TBANSPORTATION  OF  WHEAT 

The  transportation  of  wheat  has  four  divisions  or  aspects: 
(1)  Transportation  from  the  farm  to  the  local  market;  (2)  from 
the  local  market  to  the  primary  market;  (3)  from  the  primary 
market  to  the  seaboard ;  and  (4)  from  the  seaboard  to  the 
foreign  market. 

Transportation  from  Farm  to  Local  Market.— On  the  Pacific 
coast  of  the  United  States  all  wheat  is  handled  in  sacks  from 
the  time  it  is  threshed.  This  is  the  method  of  handling  wheat 
in  practically  all  foreign  countries.  Perhaps  the  only  excep- 
tions to  this  are  in  very  recent  times  in  certain  parts  of  Russia 
and  in  western  Germany.  In  all  parts  of  the  United  States 
except  the  Pacific  coast,  however,  advantage  is  taken  of  the 
flowing  quality  of  wheat  by  handling  it  in  loose  condition  as 
soon  as  it  reaches  the  elevator,  and  in  some  parts,  as  in  the 
Red  river  valley,  it  is  never  sacked  at  all,  but  runs  directly 
from  the  thresher  into  the  wagon  box  or  grain  tank.  In 
•transporting  wheat  from  the  farm  to  the  local  market  animal 
power  is  well-nigh  universally  used,  whether  it  is  transported 
on  the  back  of  the  camel,  as  in  Egypt  or  India;  in  the  two- 
wheeled  ox-cart,  as  in  Argentina;  in  the  two-horse  wagon,  as 
in  Ohio;  in  the  four-horse  grain  tank,  as  in  North  Dakota;  or 
on  the  six-horse,  double  wagon,  as  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

Transportation  from  Local  Market  to  Primary  Market. — The 
fact  that  the  production,  the  internal  movement,  and  the  ex- 
portation of  wheat  are  greater  in  bulk  and  value  for  the 
United  States  than  for  any  other  country  attaches  an  un- 
usual interest  to  a  study  of  the  internal  transportation  of 
American  grain.  Those  great  railway  centers  into  which  the 
wheat  of  the  surplus  producing  states  is  concentrated  after  the 
first  stage  of  its  movement  from  the  producer  are  designated  as 
the  primary  grain  markets.  The  ten  largest  centers  are  Chi- 
cago, Minneapolis,  Duluth-Superior,  St.  Louis,  Milwaukee,  To- 
ledo, Kansas  City,  Peoria,  Cincinnati  and  Detroit.  An  average 
of  from  10,000,000  to  90,000,000  bushels  of  grain  has  been  an- 
nually received  by  each  of  these  cities.  With  one  exception, 

188 


THE  TRANSPORTATION  OF  WHEAT  189 

all  of  these  primary  markets  are  located  at  the  points  where 
the  circumference  of  an  irregular  circle  intersects  the  great 
inland  waterways.  From  each  of  these  centers  radiates  a 
fan-shaped  net-work  of  railway  lines.  In  the  main,  these  lines 
extend  to  the  north,  west  and  south.  Sometimes  over  25  grain 
carrying  lines  come  from  a  single  city.  Not  only  do  the  rail- 
roads from  any  one  city  compete  with  each  other  as  carriers 
of  grain,  but  they  also  compete  with  the  roads  radiating  from 
other  cities.  The  competition  is  all  the  more  intense  because 
success  or  failure  for  certain  primary  markets  in  securing  the 
grain  often  determines  whether  it  goes  to  the  Atlantic  or  Gulf 
seaports,  and  thence  to  the  foreign  markets.  As  a  consequence 
the  middle  west  is  well  equipped  with  railway  mileage.  The 
net  earnings  of  the  railway  systems  come  largely  from  the  grain 
traffic  to  the  east  and  south,  and  from  the  traffic  which  this  in- 
duces in  the  opposite  direction. 

The  movement  of  wheat  from  the  local  markets  of  the  pro- 
ductive areas  to  the  primary  centers  for  subsequent  distribution 
is  almost  entirely  by  rail.  There  is  very  little  water  tran- 
sportation. In  1899,  50,000,000  bushels  of  wheat,  corn  and 
oats  were  received  in  St.  Louis.  The  receipts  by  wagon  were 
almost  equal  to  those  by  water,  which  were  little  more  than  a 
million  bushels. 

Chicago  is  the  greatest  primary  grain  center  in  the  world,  but 
on  account  of  the  great  quantity  of  flour  manufactured  at  Min- 
neapolis, the  latter  city  stands  pre-eminent  in  wheat.  During 
the  last  decade,  there  has  been  a  marked  increase  in  the  amount 
of  wheat  received  at  Kansas  City  and  St.  Louis;  the  amount  at 
Minneapolis  and  Chicago  has  not  varied;  and  the  amount  at 
Duluth  has  declined.  Buffalo  is  a  great  point  of  interior  con- 
centration for  the  purpose  of  forwarding  to  Atlantic  seaports. 

Transportation  from  Primary  Market  to  Seaboard. — In  every 
country  the  extensive  growing  and  shipping  of  wheat  is  closely 
dependent  upon  the  existence  of  adequate  transportation  fa- 
cilities. To  the  lack  of  these  the  comparative  insignificance  of 
the  grain  traffic  of  the  United  States  in  the  eighteenth  century 
was  mainly  due.  This  was  before  the  railroad  era;  canals 
were  developing  but  slowly;  and  highway  transportation  was 
too  expensive  to  be  practicable  for  any  great  distance.  During 


Prom  stereograph,  copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  New  York. 

TRANSPORTATION    OF    WHEAT    ON    WATER 
ABOVE A   RIVER   WHEAT   TUG 

BELOW — A  "WHALEBACK"  STEAMER 


THE  TRANSPORTATION   OF  WHEAT  101 

the  early  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  main  trans- 
portation of  grain  was  by  way  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers 
to  the  Gulf.  Buffalo  handled  less  flour  than  New  Orleans  as 
late  as  1840.  New  Orleans  received  221,000  barrels  of  flour  in 
1832,  and  this  rose  to  over  a  million  annually  in  the  sixth 
decade.  The  Erie  canal,  opened  in  1825,  turned  the  cereal 
movement  eastward  to  New  York,  and  soon  that  city  became  the 
chief  commercial  center  of  the  western  hemisphere.  Already 
before  the  Civil  war,  the  grain  traffic  of  the  Mississippi  river 
began  to  decrease  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
In  1836  the  first  shipment  of  grain  from  Lake  Michigan  took 
place,  and  two  years  later  Chicago  made  its  first  consignment. 
The  opening  of  the  eastern  route  immediately  shifted  the  wheat 
center  westward  and  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the  development 
of  the  north  central  states.  An  all-rail  route  was  established 
between  Chicago  and  the  Atlantic  ocean  in  1852.  In  1859  the 
four  leading  wheat  states  were  Illinois,  Indiana,  Wisconsin  and 
Ohio,  and  they  transported  their  surplus  to  the  seaboard  chiefly 
by  water.  When  the  Civil  war  closed  the  Mississippi  river, 
freight  rose  so  high  "that  it  cost  more  than  five  times  as 
much  to  transport  a  bushel  of  wheat  from  Iowa  to  New  York 
as  the  farmer  received  for  it." 

Shipments  by  rail  began  in  1856.  By  the  seventh  decade,  the 
railroads  had  developed  sufficiently  to  compete  with  the  water 
route  to  the  Atlantic  coast.  By  the  end  of  this  decade  the 
railroads  were  in  the  ascendancy  in  the  struggle,  having  se- 
cured the  bulk  of  the  flour,  and  about  two-thirds  of  all  grains. 
On  an  average,  however,  only  about  one-third  of  the  wheat  has 
been  carried  by  rail.  On  account  of  the  favorable  location 
of  Chicago,  the  roads  from  this  city  have  been  most  successful 
in  the  competition.  As  early  as  1876,  83  per  cent  of  all  the 
grain  shipped  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard  was  by  rail.  Much 
grain  was  and  is  shipped  by  a  part  water  and  part  rail  route, 
for  the  Erie  canal  has  fallen  into  comparative  disuse.  A  close 
parallel  to  this  competition  is  found  in  the  competition  between 
the  Canadian  railways  and  the  Welland  canal. 

The  participation  of  railroads  in  the  eastern  grain  traffic 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  also  of  the  Welland  canal 
in  Canada,  besides  extending  the  grain  area  and  severing  it  from 
1  8th  U.  S.  Census,  Agriculture,  p.  xli. 


192  THE    BOOK    OP   WHEAT 

its  dependence  on  the  lake  region,  had  the  important  effect  of 
creating  direct  routes  from  the  west  to  seaboard  cities  other 
than  New  York  and  New  Orleans.  This  resulted  in  a  compe- 
tition between  the  Atlantic  seaboard  cities  for  the  grain  trade, 
and  a  considerable  loss  of  traffic  from  New  York  to  such  cities 
as  Montreal,  Boston,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore.  Of  the  com- 
peting roads  to  the  Atlantic,  the  New  York  Central  had  the 
greatest  natural  advantages.  By  means  of  reckless  competition, 
however,  other  roads  wrested  differential  concessions  from  the 
Central.  The  trunk  lines  endeavored  to  equalize  opportunities 
for  securing  eastward  traffic  by  agreeing  that  the  less  favored 
roads  should  maintain  rates  that  were  lower  in  proportion  to 
their  disadvantages.  This  differential  arrangement  began  in 
1869,  and  in  different  forms  it  has  been  maintained  since  that 
date.  It  has  been  claimed  that  New  York  was  not  as  progress- 
ive as  other  Atlantic  ports  in  methods  of  handling  grain.  The 
net  resultant  of  the  differential  and  of  other  causes  was  a 
decline  in  the  proportion  of  the  grain  trade  done  by  New  York, 
for  grain  could  move  more  economically  from  the  primary 
markets  to  Europe  by  way  of  ports  north  and  south  of  New 
York;  Chicago  grain  reached  Europe  more  largely  through 
Canadian  facilities. 

The  southern  movement  of  the  grain  traffic  is  the  next  phase 
to  be  considered.  This  is  characterized  by  a  competition  first 
between  the  southern  railroads  and  the  Mississippi,  and  subse- 
quently between  the  southern  and  eastern  railroads.  It  resulted 
in  southern  railroads  securing  the  bulk  of  the  grain  traffic  from 
the  Mississippi,  and  they  are  diverting  a  continually  increasing 
quantity  of  grain  from  the  Atlantic  coast.  In  1873  New  Or- 
leans participated  to  the  extent  of  less  than  0.5  per  cent  in  the 
wheat  export.  But  little  of  the  south-bound  grain  was  then 
intended  for  export,  while  about  20  per  cent  of  the  east-bound 
grain  was  exported.  In  the  early  seventies  about  75  per  cent 
of  the  south-bound  grain  was  shipped  by  water  and  25  per  cent 
by  rail.  Before  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  this  ratio 
was  reversed,  less  than  25  per  cent  of  the  grain  being  shipped 
by  water.  Thus  the  railroads,  both  on  the  eastern  and  southern 
routes,  demonstrated  their  capacity  to  compete  successfully  with 
water  transportation.  For  50  years  or  more,  competition  among 
the  railroads,  and  between  the  railroads  and  the  eastern  water 


THE  TRANSPORTATION   OP  WHEAT  193 

route,  has  centered  in  Chicago.  The  most  recent  phase  of  the 
competition  for  the  great  bulk  of  the  wheat  grown  in  the  north 
central  portion  of  the  United  States  is  that  of  the  competition 
between  the  eastern  and  southern  railroads.  Of  Atlantic  ports, 
New  York  alone  is  falling  behind  in  commerce.  New  York 
once  held  75  per  cent  of  the  nation's  commerce,  but  now  holds 
less  than  50  per  cent.  This  tendency  towards  a  division  of 
commerce  among  different  cities  is  eminently  a  healthful  one. 
The  construction  of  the  New  York  state  barge  canal  has  been 
advocated  as  a  means  of  enabling  New  York  to  regain  and  re- 
tain the  grain  trade.  In  view  of  the  successful  competition  of 
the  railroads  with  water  routes,  however,  as  well  as  the  com- 
petition of  the  Canadian  canal  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  it  is  not 
probable  that  the  proposed  canal  would  attain  the  object  aimed 
at.  The  question  is,  however,  still  considered  an  open  one. 

While  differentials  have  exerted  a  great  influence  tending  to 
distribute  export  grain  among  the  different  seaboard  cities,  the 
securing  of  through-railroad  connections  has  also  been  a  prime 
factor  in  diverting  traffic.  Within  the  past  15  years,  New  Or- 
leans and  Galveston  secured  through  connections,  which  enabled 
them  to  receive  grain  shipped  from  the  primary  markets  of  the 
southwest  at  a  rate  below  that  which  was  prevailing  to  the  At- 
lantic seaboard.  Consequently  the  importance  of  the  Gulf  cities 
as  grain  ports,  and  especially  as  wheat  ports,  has  greatly  in- 
creased. The  percentage  of  wheat  exported  from  the  Gulf 
ports  has  risen  steadily  from  2  per  cent  in  1884  to  55  per  cent 
in  1904,  and  the  percentage  for  the  Atlantic  ports  decreased 
from  59  per  cent  to  20  per  cent  during  the  same  period.  The 
corresponding  variations  in  the  percentages  for  both  wheat  and 
flour  were  from  2  to  28  per  cent  for  the  Gulf  ports,  and  from 
69  to  48  per  cent  for  the  Atlantic  ports.1  Within  recent  years 
through  railroad  connections  have  also  greatly  aided  Newport 
News  as  an  exporting  city  of  wheat  from  the  Atlantic  coast. 

Distance  from  Seaport  to  Primary  Market  is  another  factor 
in  determining  the  direction  taken  by  export  grain.  Some  of 
the  principle  distances  in  miles  by  the  best  routes  are  as  fol- 
lows: From  Duluth  to  Portland,  Maine,  1330,  to  Boston  1400, 
and  to  Baltimore  via  Chicago,  1280;  Chicago  to  Baltimore  802, 
1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Statistics,  Bui.  38  (1905),  pp.  10-28. 


194  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

and  to  New  Orleans  914;  St.  Louis  to  Mobile  644,  and  to  Balti- 
more 930;  and  Kansas  City  to  Galveston  873.  The  railroads 
which  cross  the  Allegheny  mountains  are  not  as  level  as  those 
which  follow  the  shores  of  the  great  Lakes,  or  as  those  which 
extend  down  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  as  a  consequence  it 
costs  them  more  to  carry  grain.  The  Gulf  ports  have  a  disad- 
vantage on  account  of  the  tropical  character  of  their  climate, 
for  flour  and  wheat,  especially  if  northern  grown,  are  more  apt 
to  deteriorate  there  than  in  a  cooler  climate. 

Wheat  Grown  on  the  Pacific  Coast  passes  into  the  export 
channels  through  the  Pacific  ports.  This  trade  is  very  distinct 
from  the  rest  of  the  wheat  trade  of  the  United  States.  It 
formed  about  33  per  cent  of  the  total  export  trade  in  the  ninth 
decade,  but  the  amount  fell  to  less  than  25  per  cent  by  1900. 
Under  abnormal  conditions  in  1905,  however,  the  Pacific  coast 
exports  were  92  per  cent  of  the  wheat,  and  41  per  cent  of  the 
wheat  and  flour.  It  is  probable  that  the  development  of  Orien- 
tal commerce  and  western  transportation  facilities  will  increase 
the  wheat  exports  from  the  Pacific  coast. 

Lake  Shipments. — In  1867  the  iron  steamship  was  rapidly 
replacing  sailing  vessels  on  the  Great  Lakes.  In  1900  the  largest 
class  of  lake  vessels,  known  as  ''whalebaeks,"  carried  250,000 
bushels  of  wheat  in  a  single  load.  This  amount  rose  to  380,000 
bushels  in  1906.  At  12.5  bushel  per  acre,  one  shipload  repre- 
sents the  wheat  harvested  from  30,400  acres  of  land.  In  point 
of  tonnage,  Duluth,  on  Lake  Superior,  was  the  second  port  in 
the  United  States  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  hav- 
ing been  exceeded  by  New  York  only.  The  Sault  Sainte  Marie 
canal  carried  2.5  times  as  much  tonnage  in  eight  months  as  the 
Suez  canal  in  a  whole  year.  During  October,  1902,  14,971,318 
bushels  of  east-bound  wheat  passed  through  this  canal,  and 
also  1,298,751  barrels  of  flour. 

Statistics  Pertaining  to  Rail  Shipments. — An  empty  car 
weighs  on  an  average  about  one-third  of  the  gross  weight  of  a 
loaded  car.  Twenty  years  ago  1,020  tons  net  weight  was  the 
best  load  of  grain  that  could  be  hauled  in  one  train  in  the 
United  States.  The  maximum  weight  (dead  and  paying  load) 
hauled  by  the  New  York  Central  in  ordinary  grain  practice  is 
at  present  from  3,300  to  3,500  tons  in  a  train  containing  over 
60  cars  of  30  tons  of  paying  load  each ;  80  cars  having  a  gross 


THE  TRANSPORTATION  OF  WHEAT  195 

weight  of  4,500  tons,  have  been  hauled  over  the  line  in  a  single 
train;  85  loaded  cars  in  one  train  is  the  outside  limit,  and  not 
many  more  empty  cars  can  be  hauled  on  the  return  trip.  Even 
70  cars  in  one  train  is  too  wearing  on  the  engine  to  be  profitable. 
The  prime  cost  of  moving  a  sixty-car  grain  train,  that  is,  the 
cost  at  which  a  few  extra  trains  could  be  run  over  the  line 
without  loss  where  ordinary  traffic  pays  for  maintenance  and 
fixed  charges,  is  estimated  to  be  considerably  below  one  dollar 
per  mile,  very  probably  under  65  cents.1  Single  wheat  cars 
weighing  139,000  pounds  and  containing  over  2,000  bushels  of 
wheat  have  been  shipped.  About  25  years  ago,  450  to  500 
bushels  were  considered  a  large  car  load  and  a  1,000-bushel  car 
was  unheard  of. 

When  properly  shipped,  all  cars  are  sealed  in  transit.  There 
is,  however,  considerable  carelessness  in  shipping.  For  example, 
out  of  a  total  of  202,352  cars  arriving  at  the  five  terminal  points 
in  Minnesota  during  1905,  9,112  arrived  in  "bad  order. "  Of 
these,  3,981  were  not  sealed ;  647  had  the  seals  broken ;  1,019  had 
open  end  and  side  doors;  1,330  had  poorly  fastened  doors;  878 
had  leaky  grain  doors;  259  had  leaky  ends  and  sides;  970  had 
doors  unfastened;  and  28  were  without  doors.  Grain  is  lost 
from  such  cars  by  theft  and  leakage. 

When  shipments  of  grain  are  heavy  there  is  often  a  shortage 
of  grain  cars.  During  such  times  of  car  shortage  it  is  a  com- 
mon railroad  practice  to  utilize  the  cars  so  as  to  secure  the 
greatest  possible  amount  of  the  grain  traffic,  taking  into  con- 
sideration that  competing  roads  will  also  secure  as  much  traffic 
as  possible.  In  such  cases  buyers  located  at  non-competitive 
points  and  having  their  elevators  full  to  overflowing  may  lose 
several  hundred  dollars  per  day  because  they  cannot  secure 
grain  cars. 

The  railroads  often  pursue  a  generous  and  far-sighted  policy 
for  the  benefit  of  all  concerned.  Such  cases  are  where  trans- 
portation is  furnished,  often  free  of  charge,  for  experts  investi- 
gating questions  connected  with  agriculture,  and  for  farmers' 
meetings  which  are  held  in  the  interests  of  agriculture.  The 
thousands  of  harvest  laborers  which  the  roads  annually  trans- 
port at  greatly  reduced  rates,  and  even  without  any  direct  re- 
muneration, is  another  case  in  point.  The  railroads  recognize 
*  Interview  with  competent  observers. 


196  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

that  their  prosperity  depends  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  farmer, 
and  that  they  cannot  transport  the  crops  which  he  fails  to 
harvest. 

Transportation  from  Seaboard  to  Foreign  Market. — The  in- 
creased exportation  of  American  cereals,  especially  of  wheat, 
dates  from  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  was  coin- 
cident with  an  increased  demand  for  grain  abroad.  Europe's 
extremity  in  grain  has  always  been  America 's  opportunity.  The 
chief  features  in  the  development  of  wheat  exportation  from  the 
United  States  were  a  decrease  in  cereal  production  in  western 
Europe;  an  increase  in  the  demand  for  grain,  mainly  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  Germany,  Belgium,  Holland  and  Switzerland; 
the  laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable;  the  commercial  grading  of 
cereals;  and  the  economies  effected  by  modern  elevator  and 
transportation  methods.  Prior  to  1850,  not  more  than  from  1 
to  9  per  cent  of  the  production  of  agricultural  nations,  or  of  the 
consumption  of  manufacturing  nations,  was  a  factor  in  inter- 
national trade.1 

The  first  direct  shipment  of  grain  from  the  Great  Lakes  to 
Europe  was  a  cargo  of  wheat  in  1856.  Out  of  125  cargoes  thus 
going  in  the  next  eight  years,  only  three  or  four  carried  grain. 
The  first  wheat  shipped  from  the  Pacific  coast  around  Cape 
Horn  was  sent  to  New  York.  The  grain  was  of  such  a  novel 
character  that  the  New  York  millers  did  not  know  how  to  man- 
age it,  and  the  venture  was  not  a  success.  In  1860  California 
made  its  first  shipment  of  wheat  to  England.  The  English  mil- 
lers sent  back  for  instructions  how  to  mill  this  grain,  but  it 
found  a  ready  market  there.  By  1901  about  half  of  the  wheat 
flour  shipped  from  San  Francisco  went  to  China,  Japan  and  the 
East  Indies,  but  the  United  Kingdom  still  received  the  greater 
portion  of  wheat.  At  that  date,  12  ships  per  month  were 
leaving  San  Francisco  loaded  with  flour  for  the  Orient,  whereas 
only  a  few  years  before  there  were  but  two  or  three. 

In  1900  a  load  of  82,000  bushels  of  wheat  was  shipped  from 
Portland,  Oregon,  to  Yokohama.  This  was  the  first  cargo  made 
up  of  wheat  alone  that  ever  crossed  the  Pacific  to  Japan.  In 
the  same  year  at  the  same  port  a  cargo  of  wheat  was  loaded 
for  Europe  to  go  the  route  by  way  of  Japanese,  Chinese,  Philip- 
pine, and  Indian  ports  through  the  Suez  canal  to  the  Mediter- 
1  Emery,  Speculation  in  U.  S.,  p.  106.  -  -~  .--^  ...  ^ .  — 


THE  TRANSPORTATION   OF   WHEAT  197 

ranean,  and  thence  to  England.  Whether  the  cargo  of  wheat 
went  all  the  way  to  England  was  not  clearly  stated,  but  it  re- 
versed the  usual  route  to  Great  Britain,  and  full  return  cargoes 
from  Europe  and  the  east  were  promised.  The  following  year 
at  least  one  steamship  took  the  same  route  to  Europe,  carrying 
about  3,000  tons  of  wheat.  In  1901  one  steamer  took  a  cargo 
of  51,931  barrels  of  flour,  besides  1,000  tons  of  miscellaneous 
freight,  from  Portland,  Oregon.  This  was  the  largest  cargo  of 
flour  ever  floated  anywhere  previous  to  that  date,  with  the 
exception  of  one  of  55,000  barrels  taken  from  Newport  News. 
A  single  shipment  of  about  40,800  barrels  of  flour  was  made 
from  San  Francisco  in  1903. 

There  is  a  widely  prevalent  opinion  that  the  Oriental  trade 
of  the  Asiatic  millions  is  the  greatest  commercial  prize  of  the 
age,  and  that  it  will  absorb  the  entire  wheat  surplus  of  the 
Pacific  coast.  Great  American  vessels  have  been  built  especially 
for  this  trade,  but  their  owners  have  not  found  the  traffic  as 
lucrative  as  they  had  hoped.  The  mercantile  marine  system  of 
the  United  States  is  not  the  most  encouraging  for  American 
shipping.  It  is  claimed  that  the  Japanese  vessels  carry  flour 
and  wheat  across  the  Pacific  at  over  a  dollar  a  ton  cheaper  than 
the  American  vessels.  It  is  also  claimed  that  the  Japanese  are 
carrying  out  an  ambitious  plan  for  colonizing  Manchuria  on  an 
extensive  scale  in  order  to  raise  sufficient  wheat  to  supply  the 
needs  of  Asia,  and  thus  close  its  markets  to  American  grain. 

During  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  about  333 
vessels  were  engaged  in  the  grain  trade  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
They  belonged  to  12  different  nationalities.  Over  65  per  cent 
of  them  were  English,  and  less  than  3  per  cent  were  American. 
Regular  lines  of  steamers  carried  nearly  all  the  flour  shipped 
from  the  Pacific  coast  ports,  but  sailing  vessels  carried  the  great 
bulk  of  wheat  exported.  In  California  ships  are  often  loaded 
directly  from  the  car,  but  in  Oregon  and  Washington  the  wheat 
is  more  generally  re-cleaned  and  then  re-sacked,  before  it  is 
loaded.  Practically  all  export  wheat  from  the  Pacific  coast 
is  sacked.  From  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  ports,  wheat  is  gen- 
erally shipped  in  loose  condition.  A  very  large  portion  of  it  is 
carried  in  English  bottoms. 

Transportation  Charges. — Early  freight  rates  on  wheat  were 
prohibitory.  For  example,  the  charge  for  transporting  the  first 


198  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

wheat  sent  from  the  Red  river  valley  to  Duluth  was  30  cents 
per  bushel.  A  general  reduction  in  railroad,  river  and  ocean 
freight  rates  is  the  condition  which,  more  than  anything  else, 
has  made  possible  the  shipping,  and  consequently  the  growing, 
of  immense  quantities  of  wheat.  This  was  the  major  factor 
involved  in  opening  a  market  for  the  wheat  grower,  not  only 
in  the  great  centers  of  consumption  in  our  own  country,  but 
in  those  of  the  world.  Estimates  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century  still  placed  the  cost  of  carrying  wheat  from  the  north- 
west to  the  Atlantic  seaboard  as  one-half  as  great  as  the  origi- 
nal cost  of  production.  By  1897,  the  cost  of  concentrating  the 
wheat  surplus  at  Chicago  was  reduced  to  one-fourth  or  one- 
third  of  the  cost  in  1880.  In  1884  the  cost  of  getting  wheat 
from  the  farm  to  the  consumer  was  22  per  cent  of  its  Chicago 
value.  This  had  fallen  to  6  per  cent  in  1897.  The  Chicago 
price  of  wheat  was  practically  the  same  at  both  dates. 

From  1867  to  the  end  of  the  century,  the  freight  rate  per 
bushel  of  wheat  from  Chicago  to  New  York  by  rail  decreased 
from  33l/2  cents  to  12  cents.  As  we  have  seen,  however,  the 
competition  between  these  two  points  was  the  most  severe  pos- 
sible, and  it  must  not  be  assumed  that  freight,  rates  in  general 
decreased  to  this  extent.  The  rate  per  bushel  for  shipping 
wheat  from  Chicago  to  New  York  by  lake  and  canal  route  was 
8.8  cents  in  1871,  and  4.8  cents  in  1905;  by  lake  and  rail  it  was 
12.1  cents  in  J.875  and  6.4  in  1905;  and  by  an  all-rail  route  it 
was  20.9  cents  in  1875  and  9.9  cents  in  1905.  From  Chicago  to 
New  York,  the  rate  by  lake  and  rail  route  fell  from  19.2  cents 
in  1870  to  5.6  cents  in  1902.  At  the  close  of  the  century  the 
average  rate  between  these  two  points  was  less  than  one  cent 
greater  by  rail  and  lake  than  by  lake  and  canal,  and  railroad 
rates  had  reached  the  lowest  notch,  for  the  roads  preferred  to 
lose  the  grain  trade  rather  than  to  reduce  rates  further. 

In  1880  railroads  carrying  wheat  to  Chicago  charged  from 
1.08  to  1.75  cents  per  ton  per  mile.  In  1897  the  rates  were 
0.78  of  a  cent  to  1  cent,  a  reduction  of  from  0.25  to  0.74  of  a 
cent  per  ton  per  mile  in  17  years.  This  reduction  was  less 
than  that  made  by  the  cotton  and  coal  roads  during  the  same 
period  of  time.1  The  average  rate  on  all  freight  per  ton  per 
mile  was  about  the  same  in  1890  as  was  that  on  wheat  in  1897. 
1  Industrial  Commission,  6:59-60. 


THE   TRANSPORTATION   OF   WHEAT  199 

In  1898  the  farmers'  organizations  secured  a  compromise  from 
J.  J.  Hill  of  the  Great  Northern  according  to  which  that  road 
reduced  freight  rates  on  grain  14  per  cent,  and  competition 
forced  the  other  roads  to  meet  the  reduction.  The  reduction 
did  not  amount  to  quite  2  cents  per  bushel,  but,  contrary  to  ex- 
pectations, it  made  no  difference  whatever  in  the  price  paid  for 
wheat  to  the  farmer.  It  is  believed  that  the  reduction  bene- 
fited the  consumer  and  shipper  only.1  From  St.  Louis  to  New 
York,  the  rate  was  32  cents  per  100  pounds  in  1882  and  20.5 
cents  in  1905.  In  1890  it  cost  17.4  cents  per  bushel  to  haul 
wheat  by  rail  from  St.  Louis  to  Chicago.  This  rate  had  fallen 
to  11.6  cents  in  1901.  The  rate  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans 
by  river  fell  from  8.1  cents  per  bushel  in  1877  to  4.2  cents  in 
1902.  The  cheapest  transportation  in  the  world  is  on  the  Great 
Lakes,  0.75  of  a  mill  per  ton  per  mile. 

The  cost  of  transporting  a  bushel  of  wheat  to  Europe  from 
the  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States  was  5.5  cents  in  1902, 
from  New  Orleans  8  cents,  and  from  San  Francisco  16  to  20 
cents.  The  rate  per  bushel  from  St.  Louis  to  Liverpool  by  way 
of  New  Orleans  was  22.7  cents  in  1882,  and  10  cents  in  1903. 
By  way  of  New  York  it  was  23.7  cents  in  1882,  and  15.6  cents 
in  1905.  The  rate  per  100  pounds  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool 
was  33.5  cents  in  1896,  and  19.2  cents  in  1905.  It  is  claimed 
that  competition  of  the  Gulf  ports  has  forced  the  railroads 
carrying  grain  to  Atlantic  ports  to  charge  a  lower  rate  when 
grain  is  destined  for  export  than  when  it  is  destined  for  do- 
mestic consumption,  the  only  alternative  being  to  cease  ex- 
porting. 

The  railroad  rate  from  Chicago  to  New  York  is  only  a  part 
of  the  through  rate  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool,  and  in  support 
of  the  view  that  the  rail  and  ocean  rates  are  complementary,  it 
has  been  cited  that  in  1876  there  was  a  railroad  rate  war,  and 
the  ocean  rates  at  once  met  the  railroad  rates.  From  April 
6  to  June  1  the  rate  from  Chicago  to  New  York  fell  from 
24  cents  to  12  cents,  while  the  ocean  rate  rose  from  10  cents  to 
21  cents  during  the  same  period.  The  ship  owner  gained  and 
the  railroad  lost,  while  the  total  cost  to  the  shipper  was  ap- 
proximately the  same.2 

1  Industrial  Commission,   10:ccciv. 

2  Railroad   Gazette,    35:722. 


200  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

It  was  asserted  in  the  eighties  that  the  competition  of  over- 
constructed  railroads  in  the  United  States  and  ships  in  England 
had  caused  the  hauling  of  wheat  below  cost.  In  1901  the  sur- 
plus-cereal states  still  had  at  least  as  many  railroads  as  could 
be  profitably  operated.1  The  transportation  facilities  proved 
inadequate  for  moving  the  wheat  crop  of  1906. 

By  making  freight  discriminations,  transportation  companies 
can  exert  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  volume  and  direction 
of  grain  traffic.  Discriminations  are  effected  in  various  ways, 
and  may  be  against  certain  forms  of  grain,  against  certain  per- 
sons, and  against  certain  places.  It  is  claimed  that  the  export 
flour  trade  is  greatly  injured  by  the  fact  that  railroad  and 
ocean  carriers  discriminate  against  flour  in  favor  of  wheat, 
thus  giving  the  foreign  miller  an  advantage  in  competing  with 
the  American  miller. 

The  interstate  commerce  commission  found  that  discrimina- 
tions during  the  year  1898  were  probably  worse  than  at  any 
previous  time.  "It  is  claimed  by  some  that  direct  rebates  and 
secret  rates  are  still  frequently  granted;  commissions  are  paid 
for  securing  freight;  goods  are  billed  at  less  than  the  actual 
weight;  traffic  within  a  state  not  subject  to  the  interstate- 
commerce  act  is  carried  at  lower  rates;  allowances  and  ad- 
vantages are  made  in  handling  and  storing,  etc."  The  large 
shippers  generally  receive  the  greatest  favors.  Laws  have  been 
enacted  to  remedy  the  evil,  but  their  effective  enforcement  is 
not  an  easy  task.  On  the  whole,  however,  it  must  be  said 
that  the  transportation  service  for  wheat  has  improved  vastly 
during  the  last  25  years,  while  its  cost  has  been  enormously 
reduced  during  the  same  period  of  time.  Such  evils  as  exist 
will  doubtless  be  corrected  in  at  least  some  measure  as  a  result 
of  the  present  wave  of  popular  agitation  against  all  corporate 
abuses. 

1  Industrial   Commission,    6:48. 
3  Industrial  Commission,  4:5-6. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  STORAGE  OF  WHEAT 

The  storage  of  wheat  has  four  aspects  which  correspond  to 
the  four  stages  of  transportation,  namely:  Storage  at  the 
farm;  at  the  local  market;  at  the  primary  market;  and  at  the 
seaboard.  Under  the  subject  of  storage  is  included  the  vertical 
and  horizontal  transportation  involved  in  getting  wheat  to 
and  from  wagons,  cars,  ships  and  warehouses. 

Storage  of  Wheat  at  the  Farm. — The  granary  upon  the  farm 
should  have  an  exposed  location,  and  should  be  so  constructed 
as  to  make  the  handling  of  grain  as  easy  as  possible.  The 
principal  things  to  be  guarded  against  are  dampness,  insects 
and  vermin.  Cold  does  not  injure  wheat,  and  it  lessens  the 
activity  of  injurious  insects.  The  loss  from  insects  decreases 
with  increased  bulk  and  decreased  exposure  of  the  surface  of 
grain.  Bins  should  be  constructed  with  smooth,  oiled,  or  painted 
walls  to  prevent  lodgment  of  insects,  and  without  air  spaces 
where  vermin  can  hide.  If  the  granary  is  fully  exposed,  a 
single  thickness  of  inch  boards  will  keep  out  all  rats  and  mice. 
Where  injurious  insects  are  likely  to  be  abundant,  the  windows 
should  be  screened,  the  doors  made  close  fitting,  and  all  crevices 
and  other  means  of  ingress  closed.  If  the  granary  is  properly 
constructed,  there  is  practically  no  loss  of  weight  through 
storage.  On  the  largest  wheat  farms,  such  as  exist  in  the  Red 
river  valley,  the  grain  is  stored  in  elevators.  Alongside  of  the 
railroad  track  which  runs  through  the  great  field,  two  elevators 
of  about  50,000  bushels  capacity  each  are  located  on  opposite 
corners  of  the  farm.  On  the  Pacific  coast,  where  there  is  no 
danger  of  rain,  the  sacked  wheat  is  left  lying  in  the  open  field 
until  it  is  shipped.  East  of  the  Mississippi  river,  mixed  farm- 
ing is  generally  practiced,  and  as  a  rule  there  is  sufficient 
granary  room  on  the  farm  to  store  the  wheat  held  over,  which 
is  quite  a  large  portion.  In  the  Northwest,  where  the  main 
feature  of  farming  is  growing  grain  for  the  market,  it  is  es- 
timated that  75  per  cent  of  the  grain  is  put  upon  the  market 
before  the  close  of  the  year. 

201 


THE   STORAGE   OF  WHEAT  203 

Storage  of  Wheat  at  the  Local  Market. — The  unit  of  accumu- 
lation at  the  local  market  is  the  wagon  load.  The  unit  of  rail- 
way shipments  is  the  car  load.  The  shortest  time  that  the 
wheat  can  be  stored  at  the  local  market,  then,  is  until  enough 
of  one  grade  has  accumulated  to  fill  a  car,  which  may  be  only  a 
fraction  of  a  day.  For  various  reasons,  grain  may  be  stored 
at  the  local  markets  for  longer  periods.  When  the  buyer  lacks 
better  facilities,  the  wheat  is  often  transferred  directly  from 
the  wagon  to  the  car  by  means  of  manual  labor.  By  far  the 
most  usual  method,  however,  is  by  means  of  the  elevator. 

The  modern  elevator  is  a  very  essential  factor  in  our  wheat 
industry.  Its  chief  functions  are  storage;  cleaning,  drying 
and  gathering  wheat;  and  the  vertical  and  horizontal  transpor- 
tation incident  to  these  processes  and  to  the  processes  of  load- 
ing and  unloading  from  wagons,  cars  and  ships.  Steam  or 
electric  power  operating  the  machinery  of  the  elevator  ac- 
complishes all  this  work  without  any  aid  from  manual  labor, 
work  that  would  require  the  manual  labor  of  a  vast  army  of 
men  to  accomplish  it.  If  it  were  thus  performed,  the  operations 
would  be  so  slow  and  expensive  that  they  would  raise  the  cost 
of  producing  wheat  to  such  a  height  as  to  prohibit  much  of  the 
production  now  carried  on.  With  one  single  exception,  the 
entire  process  of  producing  wheat  flour,  including  the  raising, 
harvesting,  threshing,  shipping  and  milling  of  the  wheat,  may 
be  accomplished  by  machinery.  It  remains  for  some  genius  to 
remove  this  exception  by  inventing  a  machine  that  can  handle 
the  sack  of  wheat  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  one  that  can  handle 
the  sheaf  of  wheat  in  the  Red  river  valley.  It  would  seem  that 
neither  task  should  be  beyond  the  inventor's  power.  Of  the 
machinery  used  on  a  large  wheat  farm,  the  plow  stands  at  one 
end,  and  the  elevator  at  the  other.  Human  labor  has  been 
minimized  throughout  all  of  the  operations.  All  agricultural 
implements  are  guided  by  levers;  threshermen  are  only  assist- 
ants to  a  machine  which  delivers  the  grain  into  a  sack  or  grain 
tank;  those  who  unload  the  wheat  from  the  wagons  simply 
loose  a  bolt,  and  the  grain  is  dumped;  those  who  heave  wheat 
into  bins  merely  press  buttons;  and  those  who  load  it  into  cars 
or  ships  need  but  pull  a  lever.  The  elevator  at  the  local  market 
often  has  its  machinery  so  constructed  that  it  can  empty  1,000 
bushels  an  hour  from  wagons,  and  some.times  10,000  bushels  a 


204  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

day  are  received  by  a  single  elevator.  These  elevators  are 
generally  constructed  of  wood,  and  have  a  capacity  varying 
from  10,000  to  40,000  bushels. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  ownership  and  management,  there 
are  three  types  of  elevators  found  at  the  local  markets:  (1) 
Those  provided  and  owned  by  the  farmers  themselves;  (2)  those 
owned  by  the  local  grain  dealers;  and  (3)  those  controlled  by 
the  grain  buyers  located  at  the  primary  markets.  Hundreds  of 
elevators  situated  along  the  railroads  which  extend  into  the 
grain  territory  are  controlled  from  the  primary  markets  by 
what  are  called  line  elevator  companies.  The  Northern  Pacific 
Railway  with  its  elevators  may  be  taken  as  a  typical  case.  On 
this  road  during  1901,  there  were  430  line  elevators,  286  local 
dealers'  elevators,  and  22  farmers'  elevators.  In  the  same 
year  in  Brown  county,  South  Dakota,  a  county  which  is  36 
miles  wide  by  48  miles  long,  and  which  is  considered  as  typical 
of  the  Dakotas  and  Minnesota,  there  were  45  elevators  with  a 
capacity  of  from  12,000  to  15,000  bushels  each.  There  were 
also  12  flat  houses  with  a  capacity  of  from  3,000  to  5,000 
bushels  each,  and  3  large  elevators  belonging  to  flouring  mills. 
Twelve  line  companies  were  operating  in  the  county,  and  they 
owned  30  of  the  warehouses.  20  of  them  were  owned  and 
operated  by  independent  parties.1  When  local  market  conditions 
are  unsatisfactory,  the  farmers  establish  more  elevators.  Dur- 
ing 1904-5,  the  farmers'  elevators  in  Minnesota  increased  ap- 
proximately 90  per  cent  in  18  months.2  For  the  year  ending 
September  1,  1901,  1,549  licenses  were  issued  for  country  ele- 
vators and  warehouses  in  the  state  of  Minnesota. 

• 

The  successful  working  of  elevators  as  now  constructed  and 
all  the  principles  of  their  machinery  are  entirely  dependent  on 
the  flowing  quality  of  wheat.  Since  the  advantages  of  this 
quality  for  labor-saving  machinery  had  been  completely  es- 
tablished prior  to  the  extensive  development  of  the  wheat  in- 
dustry on  the  Pacific  coast,  it  is  a  peculiar  and  noteworthy  fact 
that  in  the  subsequent  development  of  the  wheat  industry,  the 
Pacific  coast  differed  from  other  parts  of  the  country  in  this, 
as  in  nearly  all  other  things,  by  not  taking  advantage  of  the 
flowing  quality  of  wheat.  The  grain  is  handled  in  sacks,  and 

1  Industrial    Commission,    10:cccxviii. 

2  Kept.  R.  R.  and  Warehouse  Commission  of  Minn.,  1905,  p.  6a 


THE   STORAGE   OF  WHEAT  205 

it  is  even  resacked  after  it  has  been  cleaned  by  the  elevators. 
Undoubtedly  one  of  the  main  reasons  for  this  is  found  in  the 
climate.-  During  the  summer  season  of  the  year,  there  is  no 
rain,  and  the  sacked  wheat  needs  no  protection  from  the  ele- 
ments. If  it  is  not  shipped  at  once,  it  is  piled  up  in  huge  piles 
at  the  shipping  points.  This  avoids  the  use  and  expense  of 
elevators,  although  it  is  sometimes  piled  in  warehouses.  The 
platforms  and  warehouses  are  owned  by  the  grain-buying  firms 
who  collect  the  wheat  for  ultimate  shipment. 

Storage  of  Wheat  at  the  Primary  Market. — The  capacity  of 
terminal  elevators  to  handle  and  store  grain  is  enormous'.  Chi- 
cago was  perhaps  the  first  city  to  develop  great  facilities  in 
this  line,  and  it  is  partly  to  this  that  the  city  owed  its  early 
pre-eminence  as  a  grain  center.  Its  first  elevators  were  built 
in  the  fifties.  As  early  as  1867  Flint  wrote  that  "7,000  to 
8,000  bushels  per  hour  of  grain  may  be  taken  from  a  train  of 
loaded  cars  by  a  large  elevating  warehouse,  and  the  same  grain 
at  the  other  end  may  be  running  into  vessels,  and  be  on  its  way 
to  Buffalo,  Montreal  or  Liverpool  within  six  hours  of  time.  The 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  grain  warehouse  can  discharge  12  cars 
loaded  with  grain,  and  at  the  same  time  load  two  vessels  with 
it,  at  the  rate  of  24,000  bushels  per  hour.  ...  It  is  capable 
of  storing  700,000  bushels  of  grain.  It  can  receive  and 
ship  65,000  bushels  in  a  single  day,  or  it  can  ship  alone  225,000 
bushels  in  a  day."  All  the  warehouses  of  Chicago  could  store 
an  aggregate  of  3,395,000  bushels,  and  it  is  further  said :  ' l  They 
can  receive  and  ship  430,000  bushels  in  10  hours,  or  they  can 
ship  alone  1,340,000  bushels  in  10  hours,  and  follow  it  up  the 
year  around.  In  busy  seasons  these  figures  are  often  doubled 
by  running  nights.  "*  By  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
however,  there  were  single  elevators  in  Chicago  with  a  storage 
capacity  greater  than  that  of  the  entire  city  at  the  above  writ- 
ing. Some  reached  the  high  figure  of  four  million  bushels. 
The  public  warehouse  capacity  of  Chicago  in  1900  was  28,- 
600,000  bushels,  and  the  private  warehouse  capacity  was  28,- 
645,000  bushels.  At  that  date,  five  cars  of  wheat  could  be  un- 
loaded in  eight  minutes.  In  1905  one  of  the  Chicago  elevators, 
together  with  its  annexes,  had  a  capacity  for  storing  5,000,000 
bushels. 

1  Eighty  Yrs.  Prog,  of  U.  S.,  pp    75-76. 


206  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

From  1871  to  1887,  the  Chicago  elevators  were  managed  by 
persons  whose  sole  business  was  the  warehousing  of  grain.  Com- 
petition was  active,  and  Chicago  was  the  best  market  to  which 
grain  could  be  sent  from  the  "West.  By  1892  a  change  took 
place.  The  elevators  had  passed  into  the  control  of  persons 
who  immediately  embarked  in  the  grain-buying  business.  Nearly 
every  railroad  terminating  in  Chicago  favored  some  elevator 
system  with  concessions  that  gave  control  of  the  grain 
business  of  the  road.  As  early  as  1894,  there  was  an  association 
of  all  the  elevator  people  in  Chicago,  and  all  of  the  great  ter- 
minal elevators  were  owned  by  a  comparatively  'few  men  or 
firms.  The  owners  of  public  elevators  bought  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  grain  that  was  received,  and  they  also  controlled 
great  private  elevators. 

Minneapolis  had  a  grain  storage  capacity  of  27,485,000 
bushels  in  1898,  and  the  largest  elevator  had  a  capacity  of  2,300,- 
000  bushels.  Some  23  elevators,  having  two-thirds  of  the  city's 
storage  capacity,  were  operated  under  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce rules,  4  were  operated  under  the  state  warehouse  law,  and 
the  remaining  6  were  private  elevators.  Minneapolis  is  perhaps 
the  most  notable  city  as  a  center  for  powerful  houses  which 
control  elevator  lines.  At  the  close  of  the  century  it  had 
36  elevator  companies,  which  controlled  1,862  country  elevators 
with  a  combined  capacity  of  about  50,000,000  bushels  of  wheat. 
St.  Louis  has  8  public  elevators  with  a  total  storage  capacity 
of  6,900,000  bushels,  and  25  private  elevators  with  a  capacity 
of  2,475,000  bushels.  The  largest  elevator  has  a  capacity  of 
1,500,000  bushels.  It  can  receive  and  deliver  30,000  bushels  per 
hour.  The  total  capacity  of  all  public  elevators  for  receiving 
and  delivering  grain  per  Hour  is  181,000  bushels.  Kansas  City, 
Missouri,  has  24  elevators  having  a  total  storage  capacity  of 
9,280,000  bushels.  The  largest  elevator  has  a  storage  capacity 
of  1,000,000  bushels,  and  a  capacity  of  receiving  and  of  de- 
livering 15,000  bushels  per  hour.  A  total  of  215,000  bushels  can 
be  received  and  delivered  by  all  elevators. 

Duluth  and  Buffalo  are  the  two  other  great  inland  elevator 
centers.  Some  of  the  elevators  of  Buffalo  have  a  storage  capa- 
city of  2,800,000  bushels,  are  "  built  of  steel,  operated  by 
electricity  from  Niagara  Falls,  protected  from  fire  by  pneumatic 


THE   STORAGE   OF  WHEAT  207 

water  systems,  and  have  complete  machinery  for  cleaning,  dry- 
ing and  scouring  the  wheat,  when  it  is  necessary."  The  28  ele- 
vators of  Buffalo  have  a  capacity  of  about  22,000,000  bushels, 
and  the  estimated  cost  of  their  construction  is  $13,000,000.  Long 
spouts  containing  movable  buckets  can  be  lowered  from  the 
elevators  into  the  hold  of  a  grain  laden  vessel.  Great  steam 
shovels  draw  the  grain  to  the  end  of  these  spouts,  where  it  is 
seized  by  the  buckets  and  carried  to  the  elevator.  The  28  ele- 
vators have  facilities  for  receiving  from  lake  vessels  and  rail- 
roads and  transporting  to  cars  and  canal  boats  an  aggregate  of 
5,500,000  bushels  daily.  Wheat  is  unloaded  from  vessels  at  the 
rate  of  100,000  bushels  per  hour,  while  spouts  on  the  other  side 
of  the  elevator  reload  it  into  cars,  5  to  10  at  a  time.  A  1,000- 
bushel  car  is  filled  in  3  minutes,  and  the  largest  canal  boat  in 
less  than  an  hour.  About  December  31,  1905,  6,151,693  bushels 
of  wheat  were  afloat  in  the  harbor  of  Buffalo. 

There  is  often  a  community  of  interest  in  the  management 
of  railroads  and  elevators,  as  is  shown  by  their  methods  of 
operation  and  by  the  fact  that  the  same  men  have  heavy  in- 
vestments in  both  railroads  and  elevators.  Where  the  rail- 
roads owned  their  own  storehouses  they  generally  found  it  im- 
practicable to  trade  in  grain  themselves.  They  made  operating 
agreements  or  sales  in  such  a  manner  that  companies  or  in- 
dividuals would  do  this  work  for  them.  These  companies 
became  the  medium  through  which  practically  all  the  cereals 
tributary  to  the  respective  lines  of  road  on  which  they  oper- 
ated must  go  to  market.  Where  laws  prohibited  a  public  ware- 
houseman from  trading  in  grain,  other  companies  were  organ- 
ized, working  in  conjunction  with  warehousemen,  to  handle  the 
business. 

Financially,  the  elevator  consolidations  have  brought  money 
from  the  great  public  money  market  of  the  world.  On  this 
account  the  rate  of  interest  has  fallen,  which  has  been  a  dis- 
advantage to  the  local  capitalist  with  small  capital.  Without 
the  present  system  of  elevators  a  farming  community  would  be 
much  worse  off  than  under  existing  conditions,  but  from  the 
farmer's  point  of  view  there  is  ample  room  for  improvement 
in  the  present  system.  If  the  competitive  system  is  to  give  way 
to  organization,  the  farmer  must  receive  his  proper  share  of 
the  benefits  arising  from  the  co-operation  of  all  the  interests 


208  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

involved,  for  the  foundation  of  the  whole  system  rests  on  the 
prosperity  of  the  wheat-grower. 

Storage  of  Wheat  at  the  Seaboard. — The  elevators  at  the  sea- 
board are  not  as  large  as  those  at  the  primary  markets.  The 
largest  storage  capacity  of  an  elevator  on  the  Atlantic  coast  at 
present  is  1,800,000  bushels.  Such  an  elevator  can  unload  grain 
cars  at  the  rate  of  560,000  bushels  per  day  and  simultaneously 
it  delivers  grain  to  vessels  at  the  rate  of  1,000,000  bushels  per 
day.  An  ocean  steamship  pier  is  usually  about  250  feet  wide 
and  about  800  feet  long.  The  railroad  tracks  are  in  the  middle 
of  the  pier,  and  ocean  vessels  are  moored  on  either  side.  The 
capacity  for  handling  cars  depends  upon  the  size  of  the  ter- 
minal, and  varies  from  65  to  1,000  cars  per  day.  Grain  in  bulk 
is  easily  loaded  on  a  vessel  by  transferring  it  through  spouts 
running  from  the  elevator  to  the  hold  of  the  ship.  There  are 
also  two  different  arrangements  for  loading  grain  on  a  vessel 
while  it  is  alongside  a  pier  taking  on  board  other  freight.  One 
arrangement  consists  of  a  series  of  belt  conveyors  which  carry 
the  grain  along  a  gallery  above  the  pier.  The  grain  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  hold  through  spouts  lowered  from  the  sides  of  the 
gallery  to  the  hatches  of  the  vessel.  The  other  method  of 
loading  is  by  means  of  a  floating  elevator,  and  it  is  used  when 
the  grain  is  loaded  from  boats.  The  latter  are  towed  along- 
side the  vessel,  and  the  floating  elevator  transfers  the  grain 
from  them  through  the  hatches  of  the  ship. 

New  York  and  New  Orleans  are  the  only  seaports  where  the 
docks  and  wharves  are  largely  under  the  ownership  and  control 
of  city  government.  The  stationary  grain  elevators  of  New 
York  have  a  total  storage  capacity  of  about  17,000,000  bushels, 
and  they  are  able  to  transfer  over  375,000  bushels  of  grain  per 
hour.  From  5,000  to  14,000  bushels  per  hour  can  be  trans- 
ferred by  each  of  the  floating  elevators,  which  have  a  com- 
bined capacity  of  178,000  bushels  per  hour.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated that  the  New  York  elevators,  working  10  hours  per  day, 
could  transfer  in  30  days  the  157,280,351  bushels  of  wheat  ex- 
ported from  the  United  States  in  the  fiscal  year  of  1892. 

Philadelphia  has  five  stationary  elevators  and  three  floating 
elevators.  The  total  storage  capacity  in  1904  was  over  4,000,000 
bushels.  One  thousand  carloads  of  grain,  or  800,000  bushels, 
could  be  received  in  a  10-hour  day,  and  at  the  same  time 


THE   STORAGE  OF  WHEAT  209 

1,380,000  bushels  of  grain  could  be  delivered.  The  largest  ele- 
vator at  present  has  a  capacity  of  10,000  bushels  per  hour. 

Baltimore  has  6  grain  elevators.  The  total  storage  capacity 
is  5,350,000  bushels.  One  of  the  elevators  can  store  1,800,000 
bushels,  and  it  has  a  daily  delivering  capacity  of  1,000,000 
bushels.  The  four  elevators  at  tidewater  in  Boston  can  store 
3,000,000  bushels,  and  they  can  handle,  in  and  out,  approximate- 
ly 100,000  bushels  per  hour.  Galveston,  Texas,  has  4  elevators, 
with  a  combined  storage  capacity  of  4,000,000  bushels. 

There  are  no  grain  elevators  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Large 
grain  warehouses  supplied  with  cleaning  and  grading  plants  are 
found  at  the  ports,  however.  The  sacks  of  wheat  are  often  simply 
piled  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  When  the  deck  of  the  vessel 
to  be  loaded  is  at  a  lower  elevation  than  the  grain,  the  sacked 
wheat  is  placed  on  an  inclined  chute  over  which  it  descends  by 
gravity  into  the  hold  of  the  vessel.  When  the  deck  is  at  a 
higher  elevation  than  the  grain,  the  sacks  are  first  elevated  by 
a  conveyor,  consisting  of  a  chute  and  an  endless  belt,  and  then 
descend.  It  requires  3  or  4  days  by  these  methods  to  load  a 
ship  carrying  from  3,000  to  3,500  tons  of  wheat.  At  Portland, 
Oregon,  there  are  14  wheat  docks  (meaning  warehouses),  and 
350  cars  of  wheat  can  easily  be  put  in  storage  in  one  day.  One 
is  inclined  to  question  the  economy  of  the  whole  system  of 
handling  wheat  in  sacks. 

Legislation  Pertaining  to  Public  Elevators  and  warehouses 
was  passed  first  in  Illinois  (1870).  The  usual  subjects  of  legis- 
lative enactment  affecting  the  storage  of  wheat  are :  The  classi- 
fication and  definition  of  public  and  private  warehouses;  the 
licensing  of  public  warehouses ;  the  requiring  of  bonds  with  ap- 
proved security  from  warehousemen;  discriminations;  ware- 
house receipts;  grain  inspection;  prompt  delivery;  statements  of 
grain  in  store ;  accidental  losses  of  grain  in  storage ;  the  mixing 
and  selecting  of  grain  by  the  warehousemen;  combinations  of 
warehousemen ;  and  the  negotiability  of  warehouse  receipts. 

Storage  Charges. — Concentration  of  the  wheat  trade  and 
through  shipments  have  eliminated  many  of  the  charges  incident 
to  the  storage  and  handling  of  wheat.  In  Minnesota  and  the 
Dakotas  in  1900,  storage  was  usually  free  for  the  first  15  days, 
and  after  that  the  rate  was  2  cents  a  bushel  for  the  first  30 
days,  and  half  a  cent  a  bushel  for  each  additional  30  days. 


THE   STORAGE  OF  WHEAT  211 

Wheat  was  stored  the  entire  year  in  elevators,  and  sometimes 
for  2  or  3  years.  The  expense  per  bushel  of  wheat  in  operating 
a  line  elevator  was  given  as  2.25  cents  if  50,000  bushels  were 
handled  annually,  and  1.75  cents  if  100,000  bushels  were  han- 
dled. Very  few  houses  handled  100,000  bushels  of  wheat  in  a 
year.  Three-fourths  cent  per  bushel  was  charged  for  transfer- 
ring grain  from  a  car  to  an  elevator  and  into  another  car.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  the  cost  was  only  one-eighth  cent. 

In  1885  the  country  elevator  charge  was  from  3  to  5  cents 
per  bushel.  In  1900  it  was  from  0.5  cent  to  2  cents.  Elevator 
transfer  charges  were  1.25  cents  in  Chicago  in  1885,  and  0.75 
cent  at  the  close  of  the  century.  The  usual  commission  for 
selling  on  consignment  at  the  terminal  markets  in  1900  was  one 
cent  a  bushel.  Inspection  and  weighing  charges  amounted  to  0.01 
cent  per  bushel.  About  80  per  cent  of  the  charges  involved  in 
concentrating  wheat  in  Chicago  were  railroad  charges  and  20 
per  cent  were  commercial  charges.  Charges  made  per  car 
were  usually  those  of  inspection,  25  to  30  cents,  and  weighing, 
15  to  30  cents.  Storage  charges  at  the  terminal  elevators  were 
about  1  cent  per  bushel  for  the  first  10  days  or  any  part  there- 
of, and  about  one-fourth  cent  for  each  additional  10  days  or  any 
part  thereof.  Charges  for  recleaning  grain  were  from  1  to  2 
cents  per  bushel. 

In  New  York  the  charges  on  grain  in  store  are,  for  receiving, 
weighing  and  discharging  sound  grain,  including  storage  for 
10  days  or  a  part  thereof,  five-eighths  cent  per  bushel,  and 
for  every  succeeding  10  days  or  a  part  thereof,  one-fourth 
cent  a  bushel.  There  is  extra  storage  of  half  a  cent  per  bushel 
on  grain  delivered  to  ocean  vessels.  Screening  and  blowing  on 
receipt  or  delivery  costs  one-eighth  cent  per  bushel.  This  may 
also  include  mixing.  Inspection  charges  are  25  cents  per  1,000 
bushels.  This,  and  verification  of  track  weights,  involves  a 
charge  of  50  cents  per  car  load.  One  cent  per  bushel  is  the 
charge  of  weighing  and  discharging  track  wheat.  Grain  loaded 
from  elevator  to  car  is  charged  one-half  cent  per  bushel,  and 
that  transferred  while  in  store  one-fourth  cent  per  bushel.  At 
Buffalo  the  cost  for  elevating  is  0.5  cent  per  bushel,  but  this 
includes  free  storage  for  10  days.  If  the  grain  is  left  in  storage 
longer  than  10  days,  the  charge  is  0.25  cents  for  each  day. 


212  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

Commercial  grain  charges  on  the  Pacific  coast  have  been  an 
argument  in  favor  of  elevator  methods,  especially  when  they 
were  compared  with  the  charges  at  terminal  points  in  the 
Mississippi  valley,  or  with  those  in  New  York  city.  At  the 
very  outset,  the  sacks  add  a  cost  of  4  cents  per  bushel  of  wheat, 
an  expense  which,  according  to  the  above  statistics  of  charges, 
is  probably  equal  on  an  average  to  the  entire  commercial  charge 
involved  in  getting  a  bushel  of  wheat  from  the  Red  river  valley 
through  country,  terminal  and  Atlantic  seaboard  elevators  and 
transferring  it  on  board  ship  at  the  Atlantic  port.  While 
there  was  no  storage  charged  at  the  local  warehouse  on  the 
Pacific  coast  for  the  first  6  months,  the  handling  charge  paid 
the  local  warehouseman  during  this  time  was  1.5  cents  per 
bushel.  Each  month  after  this  time  involved  a  charge  of  0.3 
cent  per  bushel.  Since  there  was  little  capital  invested  in  local 
warehouses,  the  charge  for  handling  the  wheat  must  have  been 
about  1.5  cents  per  bushel,  even  if  it  was  sold  immediately.  At 
Portland,  60  days'  storage,  including  the  discharging  of  cars  and 
truckage  across  the  dock  to  ship,  involved  a  charge  of  1.2  cents 
per  bushel.  This  charge  became  1.8  cents  when  grain  was  also 
loaded  on  the  vessel,  which  made  the  charge  for  merely  trans- 
ferring to  vessel  0.6  cent.  After  60  days,  storage  charges  were 
one-eighth  cent  per  bushel  for  10  days.  Storage  charges  at 
San  Francisco  were  1.5  cents  a  bushel  per  year.  The  charge 
for  loading  wheat  on  vessels  was  0.75  cent  per  bushel,  and  that 
for  weighing  was  nearly  0.25  cent  per  bushel. 

The  greatest  portion  of  the  expense  on  the  Pacific  coast 
would  seem  to  be  for  handling  the  wheat,  while  on  the  At- 
lantic coast  it  is  for  storage.  Receiving  grain,  storing  it  60 
days,  and  discharging  it  involves  a  cost  of  1.8  cents  per  bushel 
on  the  Pacific  coast  and  1.875  cents  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
When  delivered  to  vessels,  there  is  an  additional  storage  charge 
of  0.5  cent  per  bushel,  making  2.375  cents  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
Storage  for  60  days  costs  two-thirds  cent  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
and  handling  the  grain  costs  1.13  cents.  Storage  for  60  days 
at  New  York  costs  1.25  cents,  or,  if  it  is  to  be  loaded  on  vessels, 
1.75  cents,  which  leaves  a  cost  of  0.125  cent  for  handling.  It 
costs,  therefore,  about  1  cent  a  bushel  more  at  the  seaboard 
port  to  handle  wheat  in  sacks  than  to  handle  it  by  elevator 
methods.  At  the  country  elevator,  however,  there  is  a  gain 


THE   STORAGE   OF  WHEAT  213 

of  perhaps  half  a  cent  when  the  grain  is  sacked,  but  the  Pacific 
coast  warehouse  is  often  merely  a  platform,  which  in  a  different 
climate  would  afford  no  protection  to  the  grain.  If  elevators 
had  to  be  built,  it  would  materially  raise  the  cost  at  the  country 
elevator,  making  it  higher  than  2  cents  per  bushel.  As  it  is,  on 
the  whole,  the  cost  is  about  4  cents  per  bushel  greater  when 
wheat  is  handled  in  sacks  than  when  it  is  handled  by  elevators. 
In  some  states  warehouse  rates  are  regulated  by  law.  Dis- 
criminations are  often  practiced  by  elevator  people,  especially 
in  eliminating  independent  competitors.  In  the  interior  of  the 
country,  the  total  cost  of  distributing  wheat  varies  from  10  to 
30  per  cent  of  the  price  paid  by  the  consumer.  The  average 
cost  has  been  given  as  9  cents  per  bushel.  The  cost  of  getting 
wheat  to  the  seaboard  has  been  given  as  10  1-3  cents  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  14  or  15  cents  on  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic 
coasts.  The  total  cost  from  the  United  States  to  England  was 
about  20  cents  by  way  of  Atlantic  ports,  22  to  23  cents  by 
way  of  Gulf  ports,  and  30  cents  by  way  of  Pacific  ports. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE   MARKETING  OF  WHEAT 

The  Else  and  Progress  of  the  Grain  Trade  of  the  United 
States  is  one  of  the  greatest  marvels  of  an  age  noted  for  its 
commercialism.  Its  entire  history  would  form  almost  a  com- 
plete record  of  the  development  of  the  American  continent,  for 
it  was  the  major  factor  in  the  opening  up  of  three-fourths  of 
our  settled  domain.  The  pioneer  husbandman  formed  the 
vanguard  in  the  march  of  civilization.  The  first  succeeding 
ranks  were  formed  by  the  merchant.  Then  came  in  quick  se- 
quence the  panoramic  array  of  our  ocean,  lake  and  river  fleets, 
of  our  canals,  of  our  wonderful  storage  and  transportation  sys- 
tems, and  of  our  commercial  institutions. 

The  cereal  crop  has  been  the  distinctive  feature  of  rural  in- 
dustry in  the  United  States.  Here,  as  in  every  agricultural 
community,  the  three  concentric  circles  of  distribution  which 
arose  were  centered  in  the  local  market,  in  the  city  market, 
and  in  the  foreign  market.  In  the  modern  wheat  industry, 
wheat  farming  is  mainly  for  a  commercial  surplus.  A  minor 
portion  of  the  wheat  grown  is  consumed  or  retained  on  the 
farm,  while  the  great  bulk  of  wheat  is  poured  into  the  streams 
of  local,  interstate  and  international  commerce.  The  major 
factor  in  that  part  of  the  cereal  crop  which  figures  in  the  in- 
ternal trade  and  foreign  commerce  of  our  nation  is  composed 
of  wheat.  Much  more  corn  than  wheat  is  produced  in  the 
United  States,  but  only  a  minor  portion  of  this  corn  becomes  a 
factor  in  its  raw  form  in  the  domestic  trade  of  the  country, 
while  a  comparatively  insignificant  portion  is  exported.  Less 
than  3  per  cent  of  the  corn  grown  in  the  United  States  in  1906 
was  exported,  and  only  25  per  cent  of  that  grown  in  1905 
found  its  way  into  the  channels  of  domestic  trade.  For  the 
last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  exports  of  wheat 
from  the  United  States  were  over  one-third  of  the  amount 
grown,  while  those  of  corn  were  only  one-fifteenth.  For  the 
year  1902,  ten-seventeenths  of  the  wheat  grown,  but  only  two- 
ninths  of  the  corn,  was  shipped  outside  of  the  county  where 
it  was  raised. 

214 


THE   MARKETING  OF  WHEAT  215 

Thus  the  per  cent  of  wheat  exported  from  the  United  States 
is  five  times  as  large  as  the  per  cent  of  corn,  while  the  per 
cent  of  wheat  shipped  outside  of  the  county  where  grown  is 
nearly  three  times  as  large  as  that  of  corn.  Wheat  is  the  key- 
stone in  the  arch  of  commodities  which  is  buttressed  on  con- 
sumption and  production,  and  which  supports  the  great  com- 
mercial superstructure  that,  with  its  many  ramifications,  unites 
into  a  threefold  nexus  of  interests — rural  producer  and  urban 
consumer,  manufacturer  and  agriculturist,  and  the  producers 
engaged  in  diversified  extractive  industries.  The  grain  move- 
ment has  a  function  in  the  national  economy  second  in  im- 
portance to  that  of  no  other  factor  in  our  agricultural  life. 
Directly  and  indirectly,  it  is  the  chief  feature  in  our  com- 
mercial relations. 

The  Three  Methods  of  Marketing  Wheat  utilized  by  the 
American  farmer  depend  upon  the  amount  of  wheat  that  is 
grown.  The  largest  farmers  make  a  wholesale  disposal  of  the 
bulk  of  their  wheat,  watching  a  good  opportunity  to  sell,  or 
employing  agents  to  watch  at  the  chambers  of  commerce  or 
boards  of  trade  of  such  primary  markets  as  Duluth,  Minne- 
apolis and  Chicago.  A  large  class  of  less  extensive  growers 
obtain  a  price  remarkably  close  to  city  quotations  by  forming 
close  business  relations  with  commission  men  at  the  large 
terminal  points.  By  shipping  their  grain  directly,  they  avoid 
the  middleman  charge  of  the  local  dealer.  The  great  mass  of 
smaller  farmers  sell  to  the  local  elevators.  The  profits  of  the 
local  buyers,  however,  have  quite  frequently  been  scaled  to  the 
lowest  notch  by  competition. 

The  Buyer  of  Wheat  is  always  located  within  hauling  dis- 
tance of  the  producer's  home.  There  are  two  classes  of  buyers, 
the  local  grain  dealers  and  the  dealers  who  represent  the 
terminal  grain  buyers.  The  general  policy  of  the  railroads  has 
been  to  rely  upon  these  two  classes  of  buyers  to  provide  the 
country  elevator  facilities  needed  for  receiving  and  shipping 
grain,  and  to  enable  them  to  do  this  promptly  by  furnishing 
them  with  adequate  transportation  facilities.  The  terminal 
grain  buyers,  controlling  lines  of  hundreds  of  elevators,  have 
been  the  most  important  factor  in  the  producer's  grain  market. 
The  local  buyer  is  usually  a  dealer  engaged  exclusively  in  the 
grain  business,  but  frequently,  especially  in  Minnesota  and  the 


THE   MARKETING  OF  WHEAT?  2l7 

Dakotas,  farmers'  associations  provide  themselves  with  storage 
and  elevating  facilities,  'lo  their  own  shipping,  and  sell  through 
commission  merchants. 

The  Local  Grain  Dealers'  Associations  are  one  of  the  main 
features  in  the  local  elevator  management.  The  two  great 
puiposes  that  they  have  served  were  the  improvement  of  the 
distributive  system  and  the  securing  of  justice  for  the  country 
shipper  at  the  primary  markets.  While  the  absence  of  these  as- 
sociations would  have  been  a  public  misfortune  to  producer  and 
consumer  alike,  there  is  much  evidence  that  they  have  exceeded 
the  limits  of  economic  usefulness  in  some  directions.  It  is  for 
the  courts  to  determine  whether  they  have  exceeded  the  legal 
limits  of  rightful  association. 

The  Independent  Grain  Dealer  has  frequently  served  in  a 
most  useful  capacity.  He  has  generally  had  the  sympathy  and 
support  of  the  grain  producer.  As  a  rule,  his  capital  is  small, 
his  facilities  for  handling  grain  are  not  elaborate,  and  he  is 
subjected  to  the  fiercest  of  cut-throat  competition.  In  spite  of 
all  of  his  disadvantages,  however,  he  sometimes  succeeds  in 
maintaining  himself  for  years,  to  the  dismay  of  his  competi- 
tors and  to  the  profit  of  the  wheat  growing  community  in 
which  he  is  located.  Situated  at  some  little  railway  station, 
and  perhaps  not  even  possessing  an  elevator,  he  keeps  the  price 
at  the  highest  notch.  This  draws  the  grain  from  miles  of  the 
surrounding  country,  and  it  is  even  hauled  past  the  elevators  of 
the  larger  towns  to  the  little  railway  station.  The  competitors 
of  the  independent  dealer  buy  most  of  the  grain,  but  the  latter 
secures  enough  for  a  profitable  business.  If  he  happens  to  be 
hard  pressed  by  competition,  many  of  the  farmers  will  sell  him 
their  grain,  even  though  his  competitors  are  offering  a  cent  or 
two  more  per  bushel.  The  farmer  can  well  afford  to  deal  with 
such  consideration,  for  he  may  secure  several  cents  more  per 
bushel  on  account  of  the  competition  which  results  from  the 
independent  dealer's  operations.  The  combination,  however,  is 
often,  perhaps  usually,  of  such  strength  that  it  can  stifle  all 
competition.  The  larger  interests  endeavor  to  crush  out  the 
smaller  ones,  and  the  usual  methods  are  employed.  The  rules 
of  the  association  do  not  permit  the  farmer  to  consign  his  grain 
to  a  grain  dealing  firm  in  the  primary  market.  Complaints  have 


218  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

been  lodged  against  the  associations  of  the  various  states  be- 
cause they  attempted  to  compel  the  farmer  to  sell  to  their 
members.  The  association  rules  permit  dealing  in  grain  only 
by  those  who  do  a  "regular  and  steady  business  of  buying  and 
selling  grain/7  A  farmer  who  does  not  use  the  local  warehouses 
or  elevators,  but  shovels  his  wheat  from  wagon  to  car,  is  guilty 
of  being  "irregular,"  and  he  is  known  by  the  association  as  a 
"scalper."  Persons  who  take  advantage  of  a  good  market  by 
buyiiig  and  shipping  grain  independently  of  the  local  elevator 
people  are  also  "irregular."  In  both  of  these  cases,  the  firms 
to  whom  the  grain  is  shipped  are  irregular.  In  the  main, 
irregularity  seems  to  consist  in  not  using  the  local  shipping 
facilities,  or  in  having  dealings  with  people  who  do  not  use 
them.  Cars  irregularly  loaded  are  systematically  traced  to 
their  destination,  and  the  names  of  the  offending  shippers  and 
receivers  are  posted.  Such  persons  are  then  made  the  subject 
of  a  systematic  boycott  by  the  entire  membership  of  the  ele- 
vator association.  Even  independent  dealers  who  are  fully  es- 
tablished in  the  grain  trade  may  become  "irregular."  An  in- 
dependent dealer  at  Malcolm,  Nebraska,  shipped  two  car  loads  of 
corn  to  an  Illinois  farmer  for  feeding.  For  this,  he  was  posted 
as  a  scalper,  although  he  had  $15,000  invested  in  the  grain 
business,  and  had  been  a  dealer  for  seven  years.  A  Malcolm 
member  of  the  association  had  traced  the  two  cars  to  Illinois, 
and  offered  corn  to  the  farmer  cheaper  than  it  could  be  bought 
in  Nebraska.1  At  Lakota,  South  Dakota,  an  independent  ele- 
vator was  built  which  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  line  ele- 
vators. The  merchants  of  Lakota  decided  to  support  the  new 
elevator  in  order  to  help  the  farmers,  but  when  the  old  line  ele- 
vators opened  general  stores  in  Lakota  and  sold  at  cost  all  the 
goods  that  the  merchants  handled,  the  farmers  failed  to  sup- 
port the  merchants.  Consequently,  the  independent  elevator 
was  compelled  to  give  up  business. 

Railway  Discriminations. — There  are  three  ways  in  which  the 
railroads  can  aid  the  elevator  combination:  By  promptly  sup- 
plying cars  in  the  busy  season;  by  refusing  to  grant  sites  for 
independent  elevators  along  their  lines;  and  by  rebates.  All  of 
these  methods  have  unquestionably  been  employed.  The  recent 
investigation  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  is  said 
1  Industrial  Commission,  6:62. 


THE  MARKETING  OF  WHEAT  219 

to  show  that  combinations  between  elevators  and  railroads  have 
practically  eliminated  competition.  Many  of  the  railroad  offi- 
cials are  stockholders  in  elevator  companies. 

The  History  of  the  Primary  Market  has  been  the  history  of  the 
terminal  elevator  systems.  In  the  control  and  operation  of  these 
systems  lies  the  key  to  a  proper  comprehension  of  the  functions 
of  the  primary  market  in  grain  distribution.  The  terminal  ele- 
vators, operated  on  such  a  stupendous  scale,  receive,  store  and 
transfer  all  grain  that  flows  from  the  local  markets  to  the 
primary  market.  They  contain  by  far  the  larger  portion  of*  the 
country's  visible  grain  supply.  The  importance  of  a  primary 
grain  market  like  Chicago,  the  historic  storm  center  of  the 
competitive  conflict  for  control  over  the  Mississippi  valley  grain 
movement,  is  augmented  by  the  fact  that  its  supremacy  as  a 
distributing  center  for  manufactures  depends  largely  upon  its 
capacity  to  command  the  agricultural  products  which  are  ex- 
changed for  the  manufactured  products.  Herein  lies  the  ulti- 
mate explanation  of  the  consolidation  of  the  distributive 
agencies  engaged  in  the  grain  trade. 

The  Pacific  coast  warehouses,  located  on  the  railroads  and 
rivers,  are  generally  operated  in  the  interest  of  milling,  export- 
ing or  speculative  dealers.  In  recent  years,  many  farmers  have 
shipped  directly  to  the  coast  cities  and  placed  their  grain  in 
storage  there.  Each  farmer  makes  certain  of  securing  the  re- 
turn of  his  own  wheat  by  marking  his  sacks  and  piling  them  to- 
gether, for  the  wheat,  coming  from  the  dry  interior,  usually 
gains  enough  in  weight  to  pay  for  storage.  The  large  wheat 
dealers  of  Portland  and  San  Francisco  have  local  buyers  to  rep- 
resent them  at  the  railroad  stations  and  steamboat  landings. 

The  Inspection  of  Wheat. — The  rigid  system  of  grain  in- 
spection and  grading  maintained  by  various  states  and  trade 
organizations  not  only  simplifies  and  facilitates  the  movement 
of  wheat  to  a  surprising  extent,  but  it  also  tends  to  minimize 
fraud  in  the  grain  trade. "  In  wheat  inspection  the  greatest  care 
and  accuracy  are  always  maintained.  The  procedure  at  Min- 
neapolis is  approximately  as  follows:  One  man,  passing  along 
the  cars,  records  their  numbers  and  initials,  and  takes  note 
whether  their  seals  have  been  tampered  with;  another  man 
breaks  the  seals  and  opens  the  doors ;  the  third  man  is  the  wheat 
expert  who  is  the  official  deputy  inspector  of  the  state.  Quick 


220  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

and  keen  from  long  experience,  the  inspector  looks  for  foreign 
matter  mixed  with  the  wheat,  examines  the  quality  of  the  grain, 
and  smells  for  smut.  Sometimes  the  cars  are  loaded  fraudu- 
lently by  placing  inferior  wheat  in  portions  of  the  car  where  the 
cunning  shipper  imagines  it  will  escape  detection.  Such  cars 
are  said  to  be  "plugged."  The  inspector  thrusts  a  brass 
plunger  deep  into  the  wheat  in  different  portions  of  the  car  and 
brings  up  samples  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  improper 
loading.  The  elevator  and  commission  houses  have  a  sampling 
bureau,  representatives  from  which  accompany  the  official  in- 
spector. The  samples  which  they  secure  are  marked  with  the 
number  and  initials  of  the  car  from  which  they  were  taken.  At 
the  opening  of  the  chamber  of  commerce,  these  samples  are  set 
out  in  pans,  and  form  the  basis  of  the  day's  trading.  The  state 
secures  complete  records  and  samples  of  all  cars  inspected. 
These  are  kept  until  the  grain  has  passed  out  of  the  market,  so 
that  any  dispute  as  to  the  quality  of  the  grain  could  be  easily 
settled..  After  the  inspector  has  finished  his  work,  the  cars  are 
resealed  with  the  state  seal.  The  wheat  is  rarely  delayed  more 
than  a  day  in  the  cars  in  which  it  arrives. 

Should  an  inspector  make  a  slight  error  in  judgment,  it  might 
make  a  difference  of  a  grade  in  wheat,  and  a  gain  or  loss  of  $25 
per  car.  In  comparison  with  this,  the  cost  of  inspection  is 
nominal.  If  there  is  dissatisfaction  with  the  inspector's  de- 
cision, appeal  may  be  made  to  a  state  board  which  is  especially 
appointed  to  hear  such  complaints.  Unless  the  grade  of  the 
wheat  is  changed,  the  expense  of  the  second  inspection  must 
be  borne  by  the  objector.  In  1889,  30  to  40  cars  were  inspected 
in  Minneapolis  in  an  hour.  A  decade  earlier  60  to  90  cars 
could  be  inspected  in  an  hour,  because  the  wheat  was  cleaner. 
The  exporting  of  wheat  from  the  interior  of  the  United  States 
involves  from  three  to  six  inspections  of  any  given  lot  of  grain. 
At  the  six  terminal  points  of  Minnesota,  Minneapolis,  Duluth, 
St.  Paul,  St.  Cloud,  New  Prague  and  Sleepy  Eye,  125,564  cars 
of  wheat  were  inspected  "on  arrival"  during  1905,  and  for 
the  same  year  there  were  inspected  "out  of  store"  59,963 
cars,  and  19,692,490  bushels  shipped  in  vessels.  Out  of  11,009 
appeals  coming  before  the  Board  of  Grain  Appeals  on  all  grain, 
in  7,859  the  decisions  of  the  chief  deputies  were  confirmed. 


THE  MARKETING  OF  WHEAT  221 

The  Weighing  of  Wheat. — A  few  years  ago  the  average 
weight  of  the  loads  weighed  at  Minneapolis  was  20  tons.  Now 
monstrous  weighing  machines  weigh  50  tons  at  a  time.  Some 
states  have  a  state  weighing  department.  That  of  Minnesota, 
located  at  Minneapolis,  has  given  service  which  steadily  grows 
in  public  confidence  and  favor.  In  1902,  it  employed  68 
and  supervised  weighing  at  42  elevators  and  17  flour 
sides  4  feed  mills,  5  oil  mills,  and  3  railroad  yards.  It  weighed 
233,127  car  loads  and  5,564  wagon  loads,  which  included  152,- 
810,383  bushels  of  wheat.  The  revenue  was  nearly  $60,000,  and 
the  disbursements  were  about  $4,000  more.  It  is  the  intention 
of  the  law  that  the  service  shall  be  self-sustaining.  The  de- 
partment has  also  removed  from  the  field  a  notorious  class  of 
men  known  as  grain  thieves.  Only  81  errors  were  made  in 
weighing  259,996  cars  of  grain,  and  6,000,000  bushels  of  grain 
have  been  weighed  with  an  average  shortage  of  only  40  pounds 
per  car. 

The  Commercial  Grading  of  Wheat. — The  value  of  wheat 
varies  with  its  quality,  and  with  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  to 
be  used.  In  the  school  of  competition,  manufacturers  of  cereal 
products  and  large  consumers  of  raw  cereals  learned  that  it  is 
essential  to  know  the  relative  values  of  different  lots  of  grain. 
The  experience  of  these  men,  aided  by  science,  determined  the 
kinds  of  wheat  that  are  best  adapted  for  various  purposes,  and 
the  methods  of  distinguishing  them.  This  was  the  origin  of 
the  commercial  grades  of  wheat.  The  grading  of  wheat  con- 
sists in  examining  the  various  lots  or  cargoes  to  determine  their 
quality  and  uniformity,  and  in  assigning  them  to  the  proper 
grades.  The  principal  characteristics  which  aid  in  fixing  the 
grade  are  weight  per  bushel;  plumpness;  soundness;  color;  and 
freedom  from  smut,  foreign  seeds  and  other  matter,  and  from 
mixture  with  a  different  type  of  wheat.  These  characteristics 
vary  so  in  degree  and  combination  that  they  are  not  reasonably 
distinct,  and  consequently  they  are  difficult  of  measurement  and 
definition.  Gradations  are  continuous,  and  if  lines  are  drawn 
to  mark  the  limits  of  the  grades,  it  is  difficult  to  determine  the 
grades  in  cases  close  to  the  lines.  Consequently,  grade  require- 
ments have  been  couched  in  obscure  and  indefinite  terms  and 
phrases,  and  the  responsibility  for  their  interpretation  has  been 
left  largely  with  the  grain  inspectors. 


222  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

Formerly  wheat  was  sold  by  sample,  and  grading  was  in  effect 
merely  the  determination  of  the  value  of  the  grain.  In  storage, 
particular  lots  of  grain,  even  if  of  the  same  grade,  had  to  be 
kept  separate,  and  when  called  for,  they  had  to  be  delivered  to 
the  proper  owner.  The  receipts  or  warrants  issued  for  the 
grain  by  the  storehouse  became  the  equivalent  of  the  grain  in 
the  market.  In  the  early  fifties,  the  movement  of  vast  crops 
from  scattered  sources  became  very  unwieldy  and  difficult  under 
the  old  methods  of  selling  by  sample.  It  was  necessary  to  store 
in  bulk  enormous  quantities  of  grain.  The  difficulties  of  deliver- 
ing on  demand  particular  lots  of  wheat  to  individual  owners  be- 
came very  great.  As  a  result,  the  grain  trade  made  the  most 
important  advance  of  its  history.  Storage  in  bulk  of  all  grain 
of  the  same  grade  was  made  without  preserving  the  identity  of 
particular  lots,  and  general  receipts  were  issued  for  the  specified 
amount  of  grain  of  a  certain  grade.  These  receipts  could  be  de- 
livered in  fulfillment  of  contracts,  and  when  grain  was  with- 
drawn from  storage,  a  specified  amount  instead  of  a  specified 
lot  of  a  particular  grade  was  delivered  by  the  warehouseman. 
Most  of  the  wheat  in  Chicago  was  thus  graded  by  1860,  but 
general  receipts  were  not  adopted  in  New  York  until  1874.  In 
some  markets,  the  inspection  and  grading  of  grain  have  reached 
such  a  degree  of  honesty  and  efficiency  that  samples  are  dis- 
pensed with  entirely. 

Contract  Grades. — Trade  organizations  whose  members  deal 
in  grain  exist  in  nearly  all  of  the  larger  cities  of  the  United 
States.  These  organizations  have  an  important  function  in  the 
grain  trade,  for  they  afford  means  for  easy  communication  be- 
tween producer  and  consumer,  and  they  aid  in  avoiding  acute 
conditions  of  supply  and  demand.  They  have  adopted  rules  of 
trade  which  aim  at  a  maximum  of  business  with  a  minimum  of 
expense  and  friction.  The  established  grades  of  grain  form 
a  part  of  these  regulations.  The  trade  organization  of  each 
market  establishes  a  li contract  grade"  for  its  own  market.  The 
contract  grades  are  understood  in  all  contracts  not  specifying 
otherwise.  There  may  be  several  contract  grades  on  the  same 
market,  and  there  may  be  a  difference  of  several  cents  in  the 
actual  milling  value  of  a  contract  grade  designated  by  the  same 
name  in  different  markets.  This  variation  arises  from  a  differ- 
ence in  the  rules  which  regulate  the  respective  inspecting  bureaus, 


THE   MARKETING   OF  WHEAT  223 

and  is  the  cause  of  some  confusion.  Where  there  is  no  state 
inspection,  the  trade  organizations  manage  their  own  inspection 
departments. 

The  Need  of  Uniform  Grades. — Great  as  has  been  the  value 
of  inspection  and  grading  to  the  grain  trade,  the  service  is  not 
without  its  shortcomings.  The  greatest  difficulty  is  lack  of  uni- 
formity in  grades.  The  different  states  and  trade  organizations 
establish  their  grades  quite  independently  of  each  other,  and 
this  does  not  tend  to  give  the  uniform  grades  which  the  inter- 
market,  interstate  and  international  grain  trade  demands.  The 
inspector  begins  with  indefinite  standards.  He  is  buffeted  about 
by  opposing  interests  which  are  vitally  concerned  in  his  de- 
cisions. He  must  work  rapidly.  Sometimes  the  weather  and 
light  place  him  at  a  great  disadvantage.  Frequently  he  lacks 
apparatus  for  deciding  doubtful  cases.  If  reinspection  is 
called  for,  he  rarely  knows  when  a  change  of  grade  is  made,  and 
why.  In  many  cases,  not  only  do  the  inspectors  grade  with 
their  unaided  judgment,  but  they  also  have  little  opportunity 
for  correcting  this  judgment.  The  demands  of  the  domestic 
and  foreign  wheat  trade  for  more  uniform  grades  are  imperative. 

Interest  in  the  exact  and  uniform  grading  of  wheat  and  other 
grains  has  come  mainly  from  two  sources,  the  grain  dealers  and 
the  United  States  department  of  agriculture.  The  general  con- 
census of  opinion  has  been  that  existing  difficulties  can  best  be 
removed  without  governmental  control,  which,  however,  has 
some  advocates.  The  grain-inspection  work  of  the  department 
of  agriculture  has  had  for  its  principal  objects  the  study  of 
methods  used  in  the  determination  of  different  varieties  of 
wheat,  and  the  study  of  commercial  grades  of  cereals.  The 
work  of  the  grain  dealers  has  found  expression  in  the  national 
organization  of  the  chief  inspectors.  This  organization  es- 
tablished grades  of  wheat  which  it  recommended  to  the  grain 
trade  for  uniform  use. 

Commercial  Classes  and  Grades  of  Wheat  officially  recognized 
and  adopted  at  Chicago  and  New  York  are  given  below.  Wheaf 
may  be  of  such  poor  quality  or  condition  as  to  be  graded 
" rejected, "  or  "no  grade."  Wheat  that  is  wet,  in  a  heating 
condition,  burned,  or  badly  smutted  generally  falls  into  the 
lowest  grades. 


224  THE    BOOK   Ofl   WHEAT 

CHICAGO. 

White  winter  wheat,  Nos.  1,  2,  3  and  4. 
Long  red  winter  wheat,  Nos.  1  and  2. 
Red  winter  wheat,  Nos.  1,  2,  3  and  4. 
Hard  winter  wheat,   Nos.   1,   2,   3   and  4. 
Colorado  wheat,  Nos.   1,   2  and   3. 
Northern  spring  wheat,  Nos.   1  and  2. 
Spring  wheat,  Nos.   1,    2,   3   and   4. 
White   spring   wheat,   Nos.    1,    2,    3   and   4. 

NEW  YORK. 

Winter  wheat,  Nos.   1,   2,   3   and  4. 

Red    winter   wheat,    Nos.    1,    2,    3   an  d  4. 

Mixed  winter  wheat,   Nos.   1,   2,   3   and  4. 

Hard  winter  wheat,   Nos.    1,   2,    3   and   4. 

Western  wheat,   Nos.    1   and   2. 

Spring  wheat,  Nos.   1,  2,   3,  4  and  No.   1   Northern. 

Macaroni  wheat,  Nos.  1,   2  and  3. 

The  rules  for  grading  red  winter  wheat  in  New  York  are  as 
follows : 

No.  1.  Red  winter  wheat  shall  be  sound,  plump,  dry,  well 
cleaned,  and  weigh  not  less  than  60  Ibs.  Winchester  stanflard. 

No.  2.  Red  winter  wheat  shall  be  sound,  dry  and  reasonably 
clean,  contain  not  more  than  10  per  cent  of  white  winter  wheat, 
and  weigh  not  less  than  58  Ibs.  Winchester  standard. 

No.  3.  Red  winter  wheat  shall  be  sound,  dry  and  reasonably 
clean,  contain  not  more  than  10  per  cent  of  white  winter  wheat, 
and  weigh  not  less  than  56 %  Ibs.  Winchester  standard. 

No.  4  Red  winter  wheat  shall  include  all  red  winter  wheat 
not  fit  for  a  higher  grade  in  consequence  of  being  of  poor  quality, 
damp,  musty,  dirty  and  weigh  not  less  than  52  Ibs.  Winchester 
standard. 

The  first  wheat  that  was  raised  in  the  Red  river  valley  grew 
on  a  rich  virgin  soil  that  was  free  from  weeds,  and  consequently 
the  grain  was  of  high  quality  and  quite  free  from  foreign  mat- 
ter. As  the  soil  became  impoverished  and  weeds  became  more 
prevalent,  wheat  deteriorated  in  quality  and  extraneous  matter 
increased.  In  the  eighties,  "No.  1  hard"  was  the  contract 
grade  in  the  terminal  markets,  and  for  several  years  over  one- 
half  of  the  wheat  received  at  Duluth  was  of  this  grade.  Later 
the  contract  grade  was  reduced  to  No.  1  northern.  Not  15  per 
cent  of  the  crop  of  1898  which  came  to  Minneapolis  was  good 
enough  for  even  this  grade.  Of  125,564  cars  of  wheat  received 
at  the  six  terminal  points  of  Minnesota  during  1905,  109,160 
contained  northern  spring  wheat,  11,118  winter  wheat,  3,391 
western  white  wheat,  and  1,557  western  red  wheat.  Of  143,375 
cars  received  during  1902,  139,857  contained  northern  spring, 
2,909  winter,  516  red  winter,  53  northern  white,  21  white  winter, 
and  19  western  white  and  red.  The  net  average  dockage  was 


THE   MARKETING  OF  WHEAT  225 

21.5  ounces  per  bushel  in  1904,  and  18.6  ounces  in  1905.  Eight- 
een grades  of  wheat  were  recognized  in  Minnesota  in  1902. 
Wheat  contracts  well  illustrate  Gresham's  law  and  the  action 
of  a  double  standard,  inasmuch  as  that  grade  which  is  most 
abundant  and  cheapest  in  any  one  year  becomes  the  contract 
grade  for  that  year,  and  other  grades  are  delivered  only  at  a 
premium.1  The  grade  is  always  either  understood  or  specified 
in  contracts  on  the  produce  exchanges,  and  a  contract  cannot  be 
settled  except  by  a  delivery  of  that  grade,  or  of  some  higher 
grade.  It  is 'only  in  comparatively  recent  times  that  a  contract 
can  be  settled  by  a  higher  grade,  for  this  is  now  allowed  in 
order  to  avoid  "  corners. " 

The  Mixing  of  Wheat. — After  grades  became  fixed,  houses  for 
cleaning  grains  and  bringing  them  up  to  the  standard  were  es- 
tablished. These  branched  out  to  include  a  system  of  mixing 
higher  and  lower  grades  of  wheat  to  lt  bring  the  whole  up  so  it 
would  pass  muster,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  respective  in- 
spection departments  for  which  the  mixture  might  have  been 
made."  Grades  were  thus  manufactured.  In  New  York,  for 
example,  there  were  two  classifications  of  grades,  one  for  de- 
livery on  the  New  York  produce  exchange,  and  the  other  for 
export,  both  under  the  same  name.  The  mixing  houses  were 
private  enterprises,  and  under  no  inspection.  The  practice  in- 
creased the  profit  of  the  mixing  house,  but  it  lowered  the  grades 
of  wheat.  The  mixer  often  makes  a  greater  profit  per  bushel 
than  the  producer,  and  the  business  is  so  important  that  practi- 
cally all  terminal  elevators  in  Chicago  have  their  mixing  houses. 
In  running  wheat  of  a  high  quality  through  the  cleaning  house, 
some  of  a  lower  grade  is  mixed  with  it  in  such  proportion  that 
the  mixture  barely  passes  the  contract  grade.  Two  cars  of  No. 
2  wheat  mixed  with  three  cars  of  No.  3  may  make  five  cars  of 
No.  2  wheat.  The  difference  in  price  between  the  grades  may 
range  as  high  as  15  cents  per  bushel.  The  mixing  of  wheat  tends 
to  fix  its  price  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  producer.  In  order 
to  obtain  a  special  quality  of  wheat,  a  premium  must  be  paid  for 
it.  Export  grain  sold  by  sample  commands  a  premium  of  from 
1  to  4  cents  per  bushel  over  the  speculative  grades  held  in  store 
in  American  grain  centers.  The  benefit  of  this  premium  goes 
to  the  mixer  and  seller  of  the  wheat,  and  not  to  the  farmer. 
1  Emery,  Speculation,  p.  137. 


226  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

Wheat  taken  out  of  storage  is  not  always  of  the  same  quality 
as  that  stored.  The  buyer  who  purchases  in  a  territory  where 
a  low  grade  of  wheat  predominates  is  at  a  great  disadvantage  in 
competing  with  a  buyer  who  purchases  in  a  territory  where 
the  grade  varies.  Most  of  the  mixing  of  wheat  is  done  at  the 
primary  markets.1 

The  Advantages  of  Mixing  Wheat  are  great,  and  perhaps 
more  than  counterbalance  the  evils  resulting  from  the  practice. 
Without  the  mixing  of  wheat,  the  farmer  would  be  at  a  great 
disadvantage  because  the  demand  for  off  grades  would  cease. 
Legislative  efforts  have  been  made  to  stop  the  mixing  of  grain, 
but  supervision  by  duly  authorized  inspectors  is  a  more  prob- 
able solution  of  the  difficulty.  Some  elevators  make  an  ex- 
clusive business  of  handling  wheat  that  is  shrunken,  damp  or 
injured,  and  work  it  up  a  grade  by  drying,  cleaning  and  mix- 
ing. Damp  wheat  is  turned  over  to  them  by  the  regular  com- 
panies, who  do  not  care  to  put  it  in  their  elevators. 

Insurance. — There  was  insurance  on  goods  in  trust  at  least 
as  early  as  1704.  On  granary  risks  of  stored  grain  the  rate 
under  the  London  mercantile  tariff  in  1877  was  0.76  per  cent. 
After  the  fire  at  the  King  and  Queen  Wharf  of  that  year,  the 
rate  was  raised  to  1.08  per  cent.  In  recent  years  in  the  United 
States,  a  few  companies  are  writing  insurance  on  wheat  in  the 
stack  or  granary,  upon  which  they  charge  a  rate  of  1  per 
cent  per  annum.  Wheat  in  elevators  at  the  local  market  is 
insured  by  most  of  the  large  fire  insurance  companies  at  a 
rate  depending  upon  the  construction  and  hazard  of  the  ele- 
vator, and  varying  from  1.5  per  cent  to  3  per  cent  per  annum. 
Grain  in  transit  is  insured  under  railroad  schedule  policies 
written  by  a  syndicate  of  companies  in  New  York.  The  rate 
upon  this  class  of  risks  is  from  .60  per  cent  to  1.5  per  cent, 
for  it  varies  from  year  to  year.  The  rate  of  insurance  for 
wheat  stored  in  elevators  at  the  primary  or  seaboard  markets 
varies  from  .50  per  cent  in  modern  elevators  of  steel  and  con- 
crete construction  to  3.15  per  cent  in  elevators  of  other  con- 
struction, according  to  type  of  construction  and  surroundings. 
In  Canada,  the  law  compels  warehousemen  to  insure  stored 
grain,  and  the  average  rate  on  grain  in  elevators  is  nearly  2 
per  cent. 

1  Industrial   Commission,    10:cccxxi;   cccxxix, 


THE   MARKETING   OF   WHEAT  227 

Marine  Insurance  of  grain  cargoes  transported  on  lakes, 
rivers  or  oceans  is  obtainable.  Losses  on  such  transportation 
in  American  ships  were  so  great  during  the  winters  of  1878  and 
1879  that  "many  underwriters  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic 
ceased  to  write  them  at  any  premium."  Thirty-five  years  ago 
the  insurance  rate  on  grain-carrying  sailing  vessels  to  Liverpool 
was  1.25  pter  cent  from  New  York  and  2.25  per  cent  from 
Montreal,  and  on  steam  vessels  1  per  cent  from  New  York  and 
1.25  per  cent  from  Montreal. 

Financiering  the  Movement  of  Wheat. — The  large  money  cen- 
ters are  not  as  great  a  factor  in  the  moving  of  the  wheat  crop 
as  they  were  at  an  earlier  date,  for  to  a  large  extent  the  rural 
sections  now  do  their  own  banking.  The  banking  power  has 
grown  much  faster  than  the  increasing  money  requirements 
for  moving  crops.  In  1890  the  banking  power  of  the  chief  grain 
states  was  to  the  money  power  required  to  move  the  grain  crop 
as  4  to  6,  and  a  decade  later  the  ratio  was  as  7  to  6.  The  grain 
growing  region  now  has  sufficient  capital  to  move  the  cereals 
from  first  hands  and  to  start  them  well  on  their  way  through 
the  commercial  channels.  A  dealer  furnishing  money  for  about 
175  country  elevators  in  Minnesota  and  the  Dakotas  sends  out 
$500  to  $1,000  to  each  elevator,  making  from  $100,000  to  $150,000 
sent  out  the  first  day.  Cars  are  not  obtained  on  this  day,  and 
perhaps  50,000  to  100,000  bushels  are  purchased.  A  sort  of 
paymaster  is  located  in  the  elevator  towns,  and  these  keep 
the  principal  informed  as  to  the  amount  of  wheat  purchased 
daily,  and  as  to  the  amount  of  cash  that  will  be  required  the 
next  day.  Much  of  this  cash  must  usually  be  borrowed,  but 
warehouse  receipts  for  grain  already  in  elevators  are  good  se- 
curity on  which  an  amount  of  money  close  to  the  cash  price  of 
the  wheat  can  be  borrowed  from  the  country  banker.  There 
must  be  a  car  load  of  the  same  grade  of  grain  before  shipment 
can  be  made.  When  the  grain  does  begin  to  move  it  takes  sev- 
eral days  for  it  to  get  to  market,  and  five  or  six  days'  receipts 
are  often  on  hand  before  cash  is  realized.  As  soon  as  a  car  is 
loaded,  the  elevator  man  draws  a  sight  draft  on  the  commission 
house  at  the  primary  market  for  the  amount  that  he  borrowed 
from  the  country  banker,  attaches  the  bill  of  lading,  and  de- 
posits the  draft  in  the  country  bank  as  a  cash  item.  Cables  are 
frequently  sent  at  night  to  every  market  of  the  world  in  order 


228  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

to  sell  wheat.  What  cannot  be  sold  must  be  held,  and  future 
sales  upon  the  speculative  markets  can  be  made  as  an  insurance 
against  loss  from  price  fluctuations. 

The  country  banker  sends  the  draft  to  his  correspondent  at 
the  market,  where  collection  is  made.  As  soon  as  the  wheat 
reaches  the  terminal  warehouse,  it  is  again  available  for  a  loan 
close  to  its  market  value.  If  the  terminal  factor  is  an  exporter, 
he  also  attaches  bills  of  lading  to  a  draft  drawn  against  the 
shipment,  and  his  banker  accepts  this  draft  as  cash  at  current 
exchange  rates,  which  include  interest  on  the  money  until  the 
draft  is  paid.  Outside  of  the  money  used  by  the  railroads,  it 
requires  about  $500,000,000  to  move  the  grain  crops.1  If  the 
farmers  do  not  wish  to  sell  their  wheat  at  once,  they  can  place 
it  in  the  elevator  and  receive  a  receipt  on  which  they  can  bor- 
row 90  per  cent  of  its  value  from  the  banks. 

The  Marketing  of  Wheat  in  Foreign  Countries.— The  charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  wheat  movement  in  the  United  States 
consists  in  concentrating  the  surplus  for  export.  Only  a  few 
of  the  larger  exporting  countries  resemble  the  United  States  in 
this  respect.  In  the  non-exporting  and  in  the  importing  coun- 
tries, the  main  problem  is  the  distribution  of  the  wheat  among 
the  population.  In  this  case  the  entire  machinery  of  marketing 
and  transportation  must  be  modified  and  adapted  to  the  con- 
ditions peculiar  to  each  country.  In  exporting  countries,  the 
wheat  is  bought  by  buyers  who  are  either  established  at  the 
local  centers,  or  who  travel  through  the  country  purchasing 
grain  from  farm  to  farm.  It  is  only  the  larger  grain  centers 
of  Europe  which  employ  the  economical  American  system  of 
elevators  in  handling  grain. 

RUSSIA.— In  Russia,  as  is  usual  in  foreign  wheat  producing 
countries,  the  machinery  for  buying,  handling  and  transporting 
wheat  is  very  imperfect.  Where  transportation  facilities  are 
adequate  their  use  is  expensive.  On  long  distances  railroad 
rates  have  been  higher  than  in  the  United  States.  They  have 
been  estimated  at  3  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  production.  Russia 
is  well  supplied  with  rivers,  and  a  decade  ago  the  larger  pro- 
portion of  export  grain  was  still  moved  by  river  and  canal.  The 
railways  have  now  become  a  more  important  means  of  transpor- 
tation than  the  rivers  and  other  water  routes,  and  they  will 
1  Industrial  Commission,  6:135-137;  11:10-11. 


THE   MARKETING   OF   WHEAT  229 

doubtless  be  the  great  factor  in  the  future  development  of  the 
country.  The  construction  of  the  trans-Siberian  railroad  has 
been  considered  as  the  initial  step  in  the  opening  of  extensive 
grain  fields.  This  railway  is  about  6,600  miles  long  in  its  direct 
line.  Earth  was  broken  for  its  construction  in  1891.  The  road 
has  been  completed,  but  "what  this  country  can  do  in  the  way 
of  wheat  production  is  yet  to  be  demonstrated. ' '  On  account 
of  high  freights,  wheat  cannot  be  shipped  to  the  frontier  by 
rail,  and'  the  surplus  of  Western  Siberia  does  not  get  beyond 
the  rural  districts.  Much  of  the  grain  from  the  western  wheat 
lands  of  Siberia  is  carried  by  boat  down  the  Irtish  and  up  the 
Tura  to  Tinmen,  from  which  place  it  is  forwarded  by  rail  to 
Russia.  Some  is  also  shipped  east  and  west  on  the  trans- 
Siberian  railroad. 

In  Russia,  grain  was  formerly  handled  in  sacks.  There  were 
no  elevators  at  the  country  stations  and  the  grain  was  much 
damaged  from  exposure  to  the  elements.  The  same  state  of 
affairs  existed  at  the  seaports,  where  the  grain  was  further 
damaged.  Here  an  attempt  was  made  to  classify  the  grain 
according  to  its  quality,  but  there  was  no  machinery  for  clean- 
ing it.  Screenings  were  bought  from  the  farmers  and  again 
mixed  with  the  wheat.  Various  other  extraneous  matters  were 
also  introduced,  such  as  manure,  sand,  and  a  species  of  grass, 
Kukal.  The  latter  was  in  such  demand  at  times  as  to  bring  a 
higher  price  at  Odessa  than  rye. 

In  1888  the  first  warehouse  with  elevators  was  erected  in 
Russia,  and  it  did  not  pay  expenses.  Subsequently  the  Russian 
government  assisted  in  erecting  grain  elevators  on  the  Ameri- 
can plan.  These  were  mainly  along  the  lines  of  the  southern 
railway,  and  at  Odessa  and  other  southern  ports.  In  1895  there 
were  55  warehouses  with  elevators,  having  a  capacity  of  about 
8,905,000  bushels,  and  221  warehouses  without  elevators,  having 
a  capacity  of  about  9,082,000  bushels.  In  1898  over  50  per  cent 
of  the  Russian  wheat  contained  2  per  cent  of  foreign  matter, 
and  some  of  it  contained  as  high  as  12  per  cent.  No  attempt 
at  grading  and  inspecting  the  wheat  has  thus  far  been  success- 
ful. It  is  mostly  sold  on  sample  in  Great  Britain,  and  there 
are  frequent  complaints  of  fraud.  Some  fruitless  efforts  have 
been  made  to  get  Russian  wheat  sold  on  a  5  per  cent  extraneous 


230  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


matter  basis,  a  plan  recently  adopted  in  Roumania.  Expert 
euce  in  other  countries  has  shown  that  if  such  efforts  were  su" 
cessful  the  most  important  result  would  be  the  transportation 

that  much  more  rubbish  from  Russia  to  England. 

T  -q- '  v.  n  lmmense  stimulus  was  given  to  wheat  cultivation 
first  f^y  dev<;IoPment  of  transportation  facilities.  The 
first  of  these  was  the  completion  of  the  Suez  canal  in  1869 
This,  however,  reached  its  greatest  importance  only  after  some 
railroads  were  built  into  the  wheat  districts.  In  th 


hha  '  »°    -      by 

high  railroad  rates   but  by  the  entire  lack  of  railroads  in  many 
of  the  best  wheat  districts.     The  situation  had  not  greatly  im 

ln  98>  when  there  were  few  b  m 


th         ,  -  o    r 

oads,  the  country  roads  were  poor  and  freights  were  high      The 
traveler  sill  saw  the  long  lines  of  camels  that  were 


;:r:iprrr.  SKJUKSS  ss£ 
^^-srraJSHS 

Uie   cartmen   seems   almost   incredible.      In   1889   McDougaif 
wrote:     "There  are  10  or  11  villages  in  which  the  lower  classe 
make  it  a  trade  to  supply  different  colored  earths  to  suit  the 
color  and  size  of  the  different  kinds  of  grain.     The  earth  i 
worked  into  small  grains  to  look  like  grained  the  traders  Sa? 
it  is  nnpossible  to  winnow  out   this  description  of  dirt 
Water,  again,  ls  put  in  to  increase  the  weight.    All  these  prac- 
tices are  resorted  to  by  the  conveying  traders  in  self-pro  ectTon 

A  ponoSr  Juality'S  whelfwa'  1'°  *°*  """"  "  Various  ways  "° 
then  the  whole  was  given  a  unif^'co'lorl.'^  mlxfn^with'cl^ 
Firms  engaged  openly  in  selling  this  clay.  As  a  rtsllt  of  ali 
these  manipulations,  the  wheat  did  not  arrive  at  the  foreign 

1  Jour,  of  Soc   Art.  37:644. 


THE   MARKETING   OF   WHEAT  231 

market  in  as  prime  condition  as  might  have  been  wished.  It 
could  not  be  shipped  to  Germany,  and  the  English  buyer  de- 
ducted 5  per  cent  "  refraction. "  The  Indian  exporter  soon 
learned  to  exercise  care  lest  any  wheat  containing  less  than  5 
per  cent  dirt  should  be  shipped  to  England.  He  was  some- 
times forced  to  mix  2  to  3  per  cent  of  foreign  matter  with  the 
wheat  in  order  not  to  sustain  a  loss.  This  caused  an  economic 
loss,  not  only  in  annually  transporting  15,000  to  20,000  tons  of 
trash  to  England,  but  the  English  miller  was  obliged  to  devise 
machinery  to  clean  this  wheat.  These  evils  were  partially 
remedied  in  the  nineties.  In  1898,  15  grades  of  wheat  were 
shipped  to  England  from  India.  In  good  years,  the  storage 
capacity  of  Bombay  is  exhausted  by  the  wheat  brought  from 
the  central  provinces  of  India.  The  wheat  of  the  Punjab  is 
collected  at  Multan  and  shipped  from  Karachi.  Considerable 
wheat  flour  is  ground  and  exported  at  Bombay  and  other 
centers. 

ARGENTINA. — The  Argentine  wheat  grower  has  no  granaries 
on  his  farm,  and  consequently  his  entire  crop  is  marketed  as 
soon  after  harvest  as  possible.  Lack  of  improved  facilities  and 
methods  are  a  source  of  great  loss.  The  grain  is  handled  in 
bags,  which  are  very  expensive  and  which  are  of  such  poor 
quality  that  there  is  quite  a  loss  from  leakage.  The  country 
roads  are  very  poor.  The  wheat  is  hauled  in  immense  two  or 
four-wheeled  wagons  having  wheels  8  feet  in  diameter.  The 
two-wheelers  are  hauled  by  12  to  15  horses  o»  mules,  or  by  8  to 
16  bullocks.  One  animal  is  fastened  between  the  huge  thills, 
and  the  others  are  hooked  on  by  means  of  ropes  tied  to  any 
portion  of  the  cart  to  which  a  rope  can  be  fastened.  The  yoke 
of  the  oxen  is  fastened  to  their  horns,  and  the  driver's  seat 
is  on  the  yoke  between  the  heads  of  two  oxen.  The  four- 
wheelers  carry  from  4  to  6  tons,  and  require  more  animals  to 
draw  them.  The  hauling  is  not  generally  done  by  the  producers 
of  wheat,  but  by  men  who  make  a  business  of  hauling.  The 
grain  is  hauled  from  15  to  60  miles.  Corrugated  iron  ware- 
houses have  been  built  at  some  of  the  principal  wheat  stations, 
but  they  are  used  only  by  the  large  producers  and  dealers.  As 
a  rule,  warehouses  are  not  available  for  the  small  farmer,  nor 
would  he  store  his  grain  if  they  were.  He  is  so  ignorant  that 
he  prefers  to  pile  his  wheat  outdoors  exposed  to  the  weather. 


232  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

Such  grain  is  often  damaged  by  rains,  and  these  conditions  pre- 
vail at  the  farm,  at  the  railway  station  and  at  the  seaport. 
Sometimes  the  piles  of  sacks  are  covered,  and  this  greatly  re- 
duces the  damage. 

Transportation  to  the  seaports  is  almost  exclusively  by  rail. 
Of  the  26  Argentine  railways  in  operation  in  1903,  22  were 
built  mainly  in  order  to  transport  wheat.  The  Parana  is  navi- 
gable to  Rosaria,  the  only  large  inland  city.  From  this  point 
at  least  5  railroads  branch  out  into  the  wheat  regions.  The  car 
facilities  are  inadequate  to  ship  the  wheat,  and  the  bags  often 
lie  in  the  yards  2  months  awaiting  shipment.  The  grain  is  fre- 
quently shipped  in  open  flat  cars  covered  with  canvas,  but  it 
sometimes  gets  wet  before  it  is  unloaded.  The  railways  are  all 
English,  and  consequently  most  of  the  cars  are  of  the  old  Eng- 
lish type.  They  have  a  capacity  of  from  10  to  18  tons,  but 
the  many  new  cars  being  built  have  a  capacity  of  from  30  to  40 
tons.  The  freight  rates  vary  from  5  to  15  cents  per  bushel. 
They  fell  about  3  cents  per  bushel  from  1895  to  1902.  There 
are  portions  of  Argentina  where  wheat  cannot  be  raised  for 
export  merely  because  transportation  facilities  are  lacking. 

Although  shipping  facilities  at  the  seaports  are  growing 
rapidly  they  are  still  entirely  inadequate.  Ships  wait  for  days 
before  they  can  be  loaded.  Then,  berthed  three  deep  in  the  port, 
it  takes  several  days  more  to  load,  especially  when  men  carry 
the  bags  of  wheat,  one  at  a  time.  Two  other  methods  of  load- 
ing are  also  in  use.  Steam  winches  lift  the  bags,  or  an  endless 
belt  carries  them.  Tramp  steamers  of  2,500  to  6,000  tons  reg- 
ister usually  do  the  ocean  transportation.  The  rate  to  Europe 
in  1903  was  from  6  to  12  cents  per  bushel.  The  grain  exporters 
keep  branch  establishments  at  the  main  points  where  wheat  is 
raised.  They  buy  through  an  agent.  A  price  is  telegraphed  to 
him  in  the  morning,  and  this  he  pays  all  day,  as  he  rides  from 
farm  to  farm.  He  often  buys  from  the  machine,  for  the  ex- 
porter gets  his  wheat  on  board  ship  as  soon  as  possible.  Each 
buyer  does  his  own  inspecting  and  grading.  The  agent  is  paid 
1  per  cent  commission  on  all  he  buys. 

CANADA. — In  the  marketing  of  wheat,  as  in  nearly  all  other 
phases  of  the  wheat  industry,  the  development  in  Canada  has 
been  similar  to  that  in  the  United  States,  only  later.  More 


THE   MARKETING   OF   WHEAT  233 

than  half  the  arable  lands  of  Canada  cannot  be  utilized  yet  be- 
cause the  requisite  population  and  means  of  transportation  are 
wanting.  Some  of  these  lands  are  among  the  best  wheat  lands 
in  the  world.  The  railroads  are,  however,  rapidly  ramifying 
through  these  regions.  New  trans-continental  lines  are  being 
planned  and  built.  As  transportation  facilities  improve  and 
population  increases,  the  development  of  Canada  will  be  un- 
precedented. Elevator  building  is  at  present  very  active  in  the 
Canadian  northwest,  both  along  the  new  lines  of  road  and  along 
the  old  lines.  As  far  as  the  wheat  trade  is  concerned,  Winni- 
peg is  the  Chicago  and  Montreal  the  New  York  of  Canada.  The 
most  noteworthy  difference  between  Canada  and  the  United 
States  in  connection  with  the  marketing  of  wheat  is  in  grading. 
Grading  is  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  Dominion  govern- 
ment, which  appoints  the  grain  inspectors  in  the  different  mar- 
kets. Uniform  grades  are  fixed  by  law  for  the  whole  country. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT1 

The  Factors  of  Price. — The  price  of  wheat  is  normally  de- 
termined by  the  world  conditions  of  supply  and  demand  which 
pertain  to  bread  stuffs.  The  control  exercised  over  price  by 
these  conditions  is  immediate  and  transient.  Direct  variations 
in  price  result  from  variations  in  supply  or  demand.  Price  in 
turn  causes  supply  and  demand  to  vary  by  reacting  upon  them. 
Such  variations  are,  comparatively  speaking,  of  slower  action 
and  more  permanent.  Legislation  may  also  become  a  deter- 
mining factor  of  price  in  certain  countries,  as,  for  example, 
when  import  duties  on  grain  are  established. 

Supply  and  Demand. — Wheat  and  rye  are  the  world's  prin- 
cipal breadstuffs.  There  is  sufficient  variation  in  supply  and 
demand  to  cause  great  fluctuations  in  price.  Many  causes  of 
variation  in  the  supply  of  breadstuffs  exist,  among  which  may 
be  mentioned:  (1)  The  great  changes  in  climate  and  in  abun- 
dance of  rainfall  to  which  the  natural  wheat  and  rye  regions 
are  subject;  (2)  the  variations  in  acreage  which  result  as  a  re- 
action to  variations  in  price;  (3)  the  increase  in  acreage  re- 
sulting from  the  settlement  of  new  countries;  (4)  the  decrease 
in  acreage  due  to  planting  a  larger  acreage  of  other  cereals, 
especially  corn,  when  there  is  an  unusual  demand  for  live 
stock  feed;  (5)  the  degree  of  competition,  which  may  affect 
the  supply  at  a  given  time  or  place;  (6)  the  establishment  or 
abolition  of  trade  restraints  by  commercial  treaties;  (7)  the 
hindering  of  transportation  by  war;  and  (8)  the  continuous 
advance  of  the  arts  of  production,  communication  and  trans- 
portation. In  Europe,  the  average  annual  production  of  rye 
is  approximately  as  great  as  that  of  wheat,  while  the  European 
production  of  both  crops  taken  collectively  averages  about  70 
per  cent  of  that  of  the  entire  world.  When  wheat  is  re- 
latively high  in-  price,  and  rye  is  relatively  low,  consumption 
of  the  latter  grain  increases  and  the  demand  for  the  former 
decreases. 

1  For  criticism  and  many  valuable  suggestions  on  this  chapter 
the  writer  is  indebted  to  Prof.  H.  C.  Emery  and  Dr.  J.  Pease  Norton. 

234 


THE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT  235 

Oth'<5r  causes  which  effect  a  variation  in  the  demand  for  wheat 
are:  (1)  War,  which  causes  a  variation  in  the  foreign  demand; 
(2)  the  standard  of  living  is  rising,  and  this  increases  the  de- 
mand, especially  in  rye  consuming  countries;  (3)  commerce  and 
the  introduction  of  a  foreign  civilization  may  increase  the  con- 
sumption of  wheat,  as  in  some  of  the  Oriental  countries.  The 
condition  that  wheat  is  the  staple  food  of  man  in  the  nations 
of  the  highest  civilization  and  of  the  greatest  economic 
strength  tends  to  keep  the  demand  for  wheat  firm,  while  the 
fact  that  the  world  supply  of  wheat  comes  from  all  quarters  of 
the  globe  tends  to  prevent  acute  scarcity  of  the  general  supply. 
The  demand  for  breadstuffs  taken  collectively  is  comparatively 
inelastic. 

The  Reactions  of  Price. — If  the  price  of  wheat  falls  so  low 
that  its  production  becomes  unprofitable  there  will  be  a  ten- 
dency for  capital  to  become  engaged  in  the  production  of  other 
crops  which  yield  a  larger  return.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
are  many  substitutes  for  wheat  which  are  at  the  command  of 
the  consumer,  and  which  he  uses  when  the  price  of  wheat  rises 
too  high.  This  lessens  the  demand  for  wheat,  lowers  its  price, 
and  decreases  its  production.  Thus  the  forces  of  supply  and 
demand  always  seek  equilibrium.  To  say  that  the  producer 
must  get  what  he  can  for  his  product  is  not  sufficient.  If  he 
does  not  get  what  is  economically  just,  on  the  whole  and  in  the 
long  run,  then  he  must  stop  producing,  and  his  capital  will  seek 
other  channels  until  it  again  receives  its  due  return  in  this. 
The  value  of  wheat  to  the  consumer  must  on  an  average  be 
high  enough  to  cover  the  cost  of  production  and  the  expense 
of  distribution.  As  a  general  rule,  the  consumer  is  com- 
paratively more  free  to  delay  purchasing  than  the  producer  is 
to  delay  marketing,  and  hence  the  interest  of  the  latter  is  the 
more  critical  one.  It  has  been  said  that  price  is  "determined 
normally  by  the  net  cost  of  producing  an  adequate  supply." 
It  is  true  that  the  price  of  wheat  cannot  normally  be  below 
the  cost  of  production.  It  is  no  less  true,  however,  that  it 
cannot  be  above  what  the  consumer  is  willing  and  able  to  pay. 
Cost  of  production  and  value  to  consumer  are  respectively  the 
minimum  and  maximum  limits  of  price,  and  they  are  botn  just 
as  essential  in  determining  price  as  the  numerator  and 
1  Industrial  Commission.  6:32. 


THE   PRICE  OF   WHEAT  237 

denominator  are  in  determining  the  value  of  a  frac- 
tion. Historically,  demand  came  first,  while  produc- 
tion followed  and  grew  to  such  proportions  as  was 
warranted  by  the  demand.  In  modern  times  of  enter- 
prise, however,  the  chain  of  causation  may  be  reversed,  for  by 
decreasing  the  cost  of  production  a  larger  supply  at  a  lower 
price  can  be  placed  upon  the  market,  and  in  consequence  of 
the  lower  price  demand  increases  and  more  wheat  is  consumed. 

Communication  and  Transportation  become  an  important  fac- 
tor in  the  price  of  wheat  wherever  the  market  has  developed 
beyond  the  most  limited  local  conditions.  Prices  that  were 
formerly  awaited  for  2  or  3  months  are  now  flashed  by  elec- 
tricity over  the  whole  world  during  the  same  day  on  which 
they  are  made.  A  favorable  location  is  no  longer  an  advantage 
in  determining  prices,  for  all  markets  are  affected  simultane- 
ously by  a  change  in  either  supply  or  demand.  All  improvements 
in  communication  and  transportation  resulting  in  a  decrease  of 
charges  tend  to  lower  the  cost  and  increase  the  amount  of 
production  permanently,  and  hence  they  enable  the  producer  to 
compete  more  successfully  in  the  world's  markets.  If  two 
countries  have  surplus  wheat  for  export,  a  few  cents  more  or 
less  per  bushel  on  the  whole  cost  of  moving  may  determine 
which  country  can  sell  at  a  price  that  will  secure  the  trade. 
Ideally,  the  only  difference  of  price  which  should  exist  between 
any  two  markets,  or  between  what  the  producer  receives  for 
his  wheat  and  what  the  consumer  pays,  is  that  resulting  from 
transportation  and  commercial  charges,  and  the  cost  of  such 
manufacturing  processes  as  the  wheat  may  be  put  through. 
These  are  the  only  variations  that  should  occur  in  the  world 
price  of  wheat. 

Competition  and  Price. — Competition  is  a  powerful  factor 
in  determining  the  specific  price  paid  for  wheat,  especially  that 
paid  to  the  producer.  By  means  of  competition,  all  charges 
incidental  to  moving  wheat  are  kept  at  a  minimum,  while  the 
price  paid  for  the  grain  is  kept  at  a  maximum.  For  example, 
at  Milton,  North  Dakota,  a  non-competitive  point,  2  cents  less 
was  paid  per  bushel  for  wheat  than  at  competitive  points  only 
6  miles  distant.  When  the  local  elevator  systems  combine 
against  the  interests  of  the  farmer,  the  only  effective  remedy  is 


238  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

for  the  farmers  to  combine  among  themselves  and  enlist  the 
interest  of  the  railroads.  When  the  elevator  systems  also 
combine  with  the  railroads,  the  farmer  seems  to  be  quite  at 
their  mercy.  It  is  claimed  that  this  condition  of  affairs  is 
shown  to  exist  by  the  recent  investigation  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  and  that  the  elevators  control  prices. 
The  only  remedy  would  seem  to  be  for  the  farmers  to  start  in- 
dependent elevators,  and  to  secure  the  aid  of  law,  if  necessary, 
to  get  their  wheat  shipped  to  the  primary  markets,  where  com- 
petition has  generally  kept  up  the  level  of  prices.  The  proof 
of  the  latter  statement  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  primary 
market  with  the  highest  level  of  prices  has  secured  the  traffic. 

Exportation  and  Price. — There  is  a  tendency  for  exportation 
to  decrease  as  population  increases.  When  a  country  con- 
sumes all  of  the  wheat  which  it  produces,  then  its  price  of 
wheat  is  fixed  within  the  country,  provided  there  are  no  re- 
straints to  trade,  and  that  the  cost  of  production  is  not  greater 
than  the  cost  of  importing  grain.  As  soon  as  a  country  has  a 
surplus  for  export,  and  receives  more  for  exported  wheat  than 
the  home  price,  plus  the  expense  of  exporting,  exporting  will  in- 
crease, the  home  price  will  rise,  production  will  increase,  and 
the  price  is  no  longer  fixed  within  the  country.  The  country 
which  buys  the  export  may  thus  fix  the  price  of  wheat  for  the 
country  which  produces  it,  but  such  a  price  under  normal  con- 
ditions must  always  be  higher  than  that  which  the  producing 
country  could  possibly  fix  for  itself,  and  consequently  a  benefit 
to  the  latter  country.  It  is  as  a  consumer  of  the  world's  sur- 
plus that  England  has  held  a  position  of  such  commanding  im- 
portance in  fixing  the  price  of  wheat.  It  has  been  asked 
whether  the  large  combinations  of  grain  interests  can  or  do  fix 
grain  prices.  The  only  conditions  under  which  they  could  per- 
manently do  so  in  a  large  market  would  be  that  they  have  an 
approximately  complete  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  supply 
and  demand,  and  that  they  would  be  far-sighted  enough  to  fix 
the  price  in  accordance  with  what  it  naturally  should  be  under 
the  existing  conditions. 

The  Visible  Supply  and  Price. — The  consumers  of  wheat  al- 
ways have  an  advantage  over  the  producers  in  that  demand  is 


THE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT  239 

never  so  tangible  a  factor  as  supply.  There  is  always  a  large 
"visible  supply "  of  wheat,  for  the  grain  consumed  during  the 
entire  year  is  produced  within  a  few  months.  While  the  Amer- 
ican producers  are  now  well  able  to  carry  their  wheat,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  still  largely  concentrated  at  the  shipping  points. 
Some  of  the  reasons  for  this  are  the  active  competition  of  the 
primary  markets  to  make  sure  of  securing  the  grain  by  buying 
at  once,  the  ample  facilities  for  economically  storing  and  han- 
dling wheat  in  great  bulk  at  the  terminal  markets,  and  the 
presence  of  a  class  of  men  who,  having  capital  and  commercial 
capacity,  have  justified  their  existence  by  the  manner  in  which 
they  have  handled  the  reserve  supply.  As  all  value  is,  in  its 
last  analysis,  a  subjective  thing,  the  existence  of  this  great 
visible  supply  must  have  the  psychological  effect  of  delaying, 
and  perhaps  lessening  demand,  and  thus  decreasing  price.  Since 
the  producer  has  already  thrown  the  wheat  into  the  market,  the 
distributer  must  either  dispose  of  it  at  once,  or,  if  he  holds  it 
indefinitely,  run  the  risk  of  loss  from  depreciation  as  the  next 
harvest  approaches.  This  tends  to  put  the  consumer  in  a  po- 
sition to  set  the  final  price  on  wheat,  a  position  that  is  further 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  competing  wheat  countries  of 
the  southern  hemisphere  throw  their  surplus  into  the  world 
market  about  midway  between  North  American  harvests.  Ar- 
gentina has  thus  become  notorious  as  a  disturber  of  wheat 
prices,  as  have  also  Australia  and  India  to  a  lesser  extent. 
During  one-fourth  of  the  year,  three-fourths  of  the  world's 
wheat  supply  comes  upon  the  market.  This  results  in  a  con- 
gestion of  supply  which  exerts  a  powerful  influence  in  deter- 
mining the  price  for  the  remaining  three-fourths  of  the  year. 
While  this  tends  to  give  stability  of  price,  it  favors  the  con- 
sumer and  not  the  producer.  An  increase  in  the  local  con- 
sumption of  wheat  by  milling  is  decreasing  the  visible  supply. 
An  import  duty  adds  the  amount  of  the  duty  to  the  cost  of 
production,  and  consequently  must  raise  the  price  of  the  wheat 
imported.  In  the  following  table  are  given  the  import  duties  on 
wheat  and  wheat  flour  in  1907  in  the  principal  importing 
countries  having  such  charges.1 

1  Data  furnished  by  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 


240  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

Wheat  flour 

Countries                                 Wheat  per  bushel  per  bushel 

Austria-Hungary   $0.35  $0.82 

Belgium   free  0.10 

France   0.36  0.55 

Germany    0.35  0.66 

Italy   0.44  0.60 

Spain    0.34  0.58 

The  Market. — Price  is  always  determined  in  a  market.  The 
old  proverb,  ''three  women  and  a  goose  make  a  market,"  is 
true,  assuming  that  the  women  possess  some  other  commodities 
which  they  can  exchange,  for  all  the  essential  primary  ele- 
ments of  a  market  are  present,  namely:  A  commodity;  its 
owner;  and  one  or  more  other  persons,  each  of  whom  wishes  to 
become  the  owner  of  the  commodity  by  exchanging  it  for  a 
quantity  of  some  other  goods.  The  primary  origin  of  the 
"supply"  and  the  "demand"  is  external  to  this  market,  which 
is  merely  the  point  where  the  forces  of  supply  and  demand  meet 
and  attain  equilibrium  through  the  exchange  of  commodities. 
A  market  increases  in  size,  complexity  and  importance  as  these 
elements  increase  in  number,  as  they  are  modified  in  form,  and 
as  consequent  manipulations  arise.  We  found  a  market  at  the 
center  of  each  of  the  three  concentric  circles  of  distribution. 
The  marketing  or  bargaining  is  early  concentrated  in  the  local 
market.  The  local  market,  so  long  as  it  is  independent  of 
larger  markets,  is  so  limited  in  all  of  its  factors  as  to  be  easily 
known  in  every  phase  and  violently  affected  by  every  local 
event  of  importance.  The  city  market  resulted  from  the  con- 
ditions of  supply  and  demand  pertaining  to  a  much  larger 
territory,  and  is  correspondingly  more  complex.  It  is  not  so 
violently  affected  by  any  single  event  as  is  the  local  market, 
and  events  tending  to  opposite  results  may  offset  one  another. 
Prices  are  always  a  resultant  of  the  forces  or  conditions  of  sup- 
ply and  demand  that  exist  in  the  whole  territory  tributary  to 
the  market,  and  that  have  been  there  concentrated,  directly  and 
indirectly.  Prices  can  no  longer  be  predicted  from  a  knowledge 
of  conditions  in  any  one  locality.  What  is  true  of  the  city 
market  is  pre-eminently  true  of  the  foreign  or  international 


THE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT  241 

market.  Under  normal  conditions,  the  wider  market  deter- 
mines the  price.  After  world,  markets  had  arisen,  the  local 
market  became  an  insignificant  factor  in  determining  prices, 
even  within  its  own  circle  of  distribution.  This  change  took 
place  in  the  United  States  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Before  this  date  prices  of  grain  were  determined 
chiefly  by  local  conditions. 

Concentration  of  Price-Determining  Influences  now  occurs  in 
the  world  market.  Modern  transportation,  which  enables  the 
California  wheat  grower  to  send  his  product  to  the  Liverpool 
market,  and  modern  communication,  which  has  practically 
eliminated  the  time  element  in  sending  news,  are  the  factors 
which  have  made  the  whole  world  tributary  to  the  great  central 
markets,  where  the  changes  that  affect  supply  and  demand  are 
continually  recorded,  and  given  their  due  weight  by  the  keenest 
of  experts  in  the  modification  of  prices.  These  changes  vary 
greatly  in  character,  and  they  are  reported  from  every  wheat 
raising  quarter  of  the  globe.  If  a  telegram  is  received  saying 
that  the  monsoon  in  India  is  overdue ;  that  the  ,  drought  in 
Kansas  has  been  broken;  that  a  swarm  of  grasshoppers  has 
been  seen  in  Manitoba ;  that  a  hot  wind  is  blowing  in  Argentina ; 
that  navigation  on  the  Danube  is  unusually  early;  that  bad 
roads  in  the  Red  river  valley  are  preventing  delivery;  that 
ocean  freights  to  China  have  risen;  or  that  Australian  grain 
"to  arrive"  is  freely  offered  in  London,  prices  rise  or  fall  to  a 
degree  that  corresponds  to  the  importance  attached  to  the  news. 
New  inventions  and  discoveries,  legislative  enactments  and  in- 
ternational agreements,  political,  commercial  and  industrial 
complications — all  have  their  effect  upon  prices. 

The  Eise  of  the  Speculative  Market.— When  the  local  market 
was  the  center  of  all  distribution,  the  producer,  having  under 
his  own  observation  all  of  the  factors  which  determined  price, 
endeavored  to  hold  his  products  for  sale  until  such  a  time  as 
when  he  would  receive  the  highest  price.  This  was  the  first 
form  of  speculation,  and  it  must  have  arisen  very  early  in 
civilization.  It  has  had  a  continuous  existence  until  the  present 
day.  Practically  every  wheat  grower  who  holds  his  crop  for  a 
rise  in  price,  instead  of  selling  it  as  soon  as  it  is  threshed,  is  a 
speculator  of  this  class. 


242  THE    BOOK    OP   WHEAT 

Dealers  in  Grain  as  a  class  became  differentiated  from  the 
producers  at  an  early  date.  They  frequently  bought  and  sold 
wheat,  not  merely  for  trade  profits,  but  to  make  an  additional 
profit  by  taking  advantage  of  the  fluctuations  of  price  result- 
ing from  variations  in  supply  and  demand.  They  bought  wheat 
outright,  and  held  it  for  a  higher  price,  and  thus  they  belonged 
to  the  same  class  of  speculators  as  did  the  producers  who  held 
wheat.  With  the  great  development  of  the  arts  of  transporta- 
tion and  communication  during  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  there  arose  the  market  which  covered  the  entire  civi- 
lized world.  In  this  world  market,  great,  sudden  and  unforeseen 
changes  in  the  conditions  of  supply  and  demand  occurred,  and 
the  uncertainties  of  trade  became  so  great  that  the  possibility 
of  a  total  loss  of  the  capital  of  the  dealer  grew  very  burden- 
some. Before  the  great  and  varied  mass  of  phenomena  which 
affect  the  price  of  wheat,  the  producers  and  ordinary  dealers 
stood  quite  helpless,  as  far  as  forming  an  adequate  judgment 
of  effect  on  prices  was  concerned,  even  if  they  could  secure 
timely  reports  of  changed  conditions.  As  a  result,  dealers  be- 
came differentiated  into  two  classes.  One  of  these  classes,  the 
wheat  dealer  proper,  is  in  the  market  simply  to  secure  those 
trade  profits  which  always  exist  independently  of  speculative 
profits.  The  other  class  is  that  of  professional  speculators. 
This  special  class  formed  organizations  in  the  large  exchanges, 
all  of  which  existed  as  commercial  institutions  in  pre-specula- 
tive  times.  The  organized  speculative  market  arose  in  direct 
response  to  conditions  which  brought  risks  that  were  intolerable 
to  the  ordinary  dealer  and  its  development  was  hastened  be- 
cause it  took  place  at  a  time  when  the  risks  usually  incident  to 
the  wheat  trade  were  greatly  augmented  by  those  resulting  from 
the  Civil  War.  While  two  typical  classes  of  persons,  dealers 
and  speculators,  are  engaged  in  the  grain  trade,  it  must  not  be 
understood  that  these  classes  are  mutually  exclusive.  There 
are  large  millers  and  producers,  for  example,  who  keep  well 
enough  informed  on  the  market  to  engage  properly  and  profit- 
ably in  speculative  dealings. 

The  Machinery  of  Speculation. — The  early  speculator  stood 
ready  to  purchase  wheat  at  the  current  price,  and  he  as- 
sumed the  risk  of  a  fall  in  price  in  the  hope  that  he  might  gain 
from  a  rise  in  price.  "Bull"  speculation,  which  consists  of 


THE   PRICE   OF   WHEAT  243 

first  buying,  and  then  selling  at  a  later  date,  is  the  term  by 
which  the  operations  of  this  speculator  are  designated.  He  al- 
ways desires  a  rise  in  price,  and  endeavors  to  bull  the  market 
by  buying.  He  operates  on  the  "long"  side  of  the  market. 
This  speculator  also  contracts  in  the  present  to  purchase  wheat 
at  some  future  date  at  a  price  which  he  now  fixes.  Here  also 
he  assumes  the  risk  of  a  fall  in  price  in  the  hope  that  he  may 
gain  from  a  rise,  for  if  the  price  rises  above  what  he  has 
agreed  to  pay  at  the  fixed  future  date,  known  as  the  date  of 
delivery,  then  he  is  able  to  sell  his  wheat  on  or  before  this  date 
at  a  higher  price  than  he  paid.  In  the  present  contract  for 
future  purchase  is  involved  one  form  of  the  transaction  tech- 
nically called  the  "future."  This  term  is  defined  by  Emery 
as  a  "contract  for  the  future  delivery  of  some  commodity, 
without  reference  to  specific  lots,  made  under  the  rules  of  some 
commercial  body  in  a  set  form,  by  which  the  conditions  as  to  the 
unit  of  amount,  the  quality,  and  the  time  of  delivery  are  stereo- 
typed, and  only  the  determination  of  the  total  amount  and  the 
price  is  left  open  to  the  contracting  parties." 

The  other  type  of  speculation  is  "bear"  speculation,  which 
consists  of  first  selling,  and  then  buying  at  a  later  date.  In 
such  speculation,  the  operator  stands  ready  to  sell  wheat  at 
the  current  price  for  present  delivery,  or  at  a  fixed  price  for 
delivery  at  a  given  future  date.  This  speculator  assumes  the 
risk  of  a  rise  in  price  in  the  hope  that  he  may  gain  from  a  fall 
in  price.  His  operations  generally  consist  of  selling  in  the  pres- 
ent for  future  delivery.  Most  frequently  he  owns  no  wheat  at 
the  date  of  sale,  but  hopes  to  secure  the  contracted  grain  before 
the  date  of  delivery  (which  is  called  covering  the  sale),  and  at 
a  price  below  that  at  which  he  sold.  He  always  desires  a  fall  in 
price,  and  endeavors  to  bear  the  market  by  selling.  He  operates 
on  the  "short"  side  of  the  market,  and  his  "short-sales"  are 
always  "futures." 

Grain  Privileges,  or  "Puts  and  Calls." — Insurance  against 
loss  in  wheat  transactions  may  be  secured  by  buying  a  "put" 
or  a  "call"  from  a  maker  of  privileges.  For  example,  if  a 
dealer  is  holding  wheat  that  is  worth  80  cents  per  bushel,  for  a 
certain  price  he  can  buy  the  privilege  of  selling  the  wheat  to 
a  speculator  at  79^  cents  per  bushel  during  any  period  of 
1  Speculation,  p.  46. 


244  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

time  that  may  be  agreed  upon.  Having  done  so,  he  cannot  lose 
more  than  one-half  cent  per  bushel,  plus  what  he  paid  for  the 
"put."  If  the  price  advances,  he  sells  at  a  profit,  but  if  it 
falls,  he  delivers  or  "puts"  the  wheat  to  the  speculator.  Sim- 
ilarly, a  "call"  is  the  privilege  of  buying,  wheat  at  a  certain 
price  within  a  given  time,  and  it  is  most  frequently  used  in 
protecting  short  sales.  Grain  exporters  sometimes  protect  their 
contracts  with  privileges.  Dealings  in  privileges,  however,  have 
not  always  been  held  in  the  highest  repute,  and  they  have  even 
been  prohibited  by  the  rules  of  some  commercial  exchanges.  A 
privilege  has  no  value  unless  its  maker  can  meet  his  engage- 
ments. 

Deposits  Securing  Contracts  for  future  delivery  may  be  de- 
manded. In  this  case,  each  party  makes  a  money  deposit  large 
enough  to  secure  the  other  from  loss  in  case  of  failure  to  fulfill 
the  contract.  If  one  party  thus  "calls  an  original  margin,"  he 
himself  must  perforce  deposit  an  amount  equal  to  that  for 
which  he  calls.  In  New  York,  the  maximum  deposit  that  can 
be  called  for  wheat  is  10  cents  per  bushel.  Additional  mar- 
gins, equal  to  the  fluctuations  in  price,  may  be  called  for,  and 
usually  are,  even  if  there  was  no  original  margin. 

Delivery. — The  rules  of  grain  trading  on  the  various  specula- 
tive exchanges  contemplate  the  actual  delivery  on  maturity  of 
contracts  of  all  wheat  sold.  Each  contract  mentions  the  time 
for  which  it  is  to  run,  and  its  maturity  is  on  the  last  day  of 
this  term,  which  is  usually  the  current  month.  In  the  export- 
ing and  forwarding  of  wheat,  the  time  is  generally  determined 
by  special  contract,  but  in  the  general  speculative  markets  the 
current  trading  is  in  the  deliveries  for  July,  September,  De- 
cember and  May.  The  price  for  immediate  delivery  is  that 
current  for  the  next  succeeding  delivery,  less  the  carrying 
charge  to  the  beginning  of  the  period  of  the  next  delivery. 

The  operator  who  sells  100,000  bushels  of  wheat  in  a  specula- 
tive deal  has  three  ways  in  which  he  can  settle  the  contract  on 
or  before  the  date  of  maturity :  He  must  either  deliver  the  actual 
wheat;  buy  the  same  quantity  of  wheat  on  the  same  exchange; 
or  lay  himself  liable  to  a  damage  suit  for  non-delivery.  In 
comparatively  few  instances  does  he  deliver  the  actual  wheat, 
which  he  might  possess,  or  which  he  might  purchase  in  another 
market.  If  he  buys  wheat  on  the  same  exchange,  his  operations 


THE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT  245 

are  settled  through  the  clearing  house,  which  is  the  same  in 
principle  as  that  of  a  bank  or  stock  exchange.  If  A  buys 
wheat  from  B  and  sells  the  same  quantity  to  C,  the  clearing 
house  settles  both  contracts  for  him  by  having  B  deliver  to  C. 
The  great  bulk  of  transactions  are  settled  in  this  manner,  which 
involves  only  the  payment  of  differences.  The  latter  may  arise 
from  differences  in  amount  or  grade  of  wheat  bought  and  sold, 
or  from  differences  in  price.  Thus,  if  a  speculator  buys  May 
wheat  in  April,  he  can  avoid  having  the  actual  grain  delivered 
to  himself  by  selling  the  same  quantity  of  wheat  before  the  date 
of  maturity  of  the  contract.  The  man  who  buys  wheat  for 
May  may  do  so  in  two  different  ways :  he  may  buy  actual  wheat 
and  store  it  until  May,  or  he  may  buy  a  future.  In  the  same 
way,  the  seller  for  future  delivery  may  sell  actual  wheat,  or 
he  may  sell  short  and  cover  the  sale  before  the  date  of  maturity. 
If  the  speculator  has  bought  May  wheat,  and  wishes  to  hold  the 
grain  longer  than  until  that  date,  he  can  do  so  by  selling  his 
May  wheat  at  the  date  of  maturity,  and  at  the  same  time  buy- 
ing July  wheat.  He  will  pay  the  cost  of  storage,  and  he  will 
pay  or  receive  the  difference  in  price,  according  as  July  wheat 
is  higher  or  lower  than  May  wheat.  Speculators  as  well  as 
dealers  sometimes  buy  actual  wheat  and  store  it  in  anticipation 
of  a  rise  in  price.  Contracts  calling  for  immediate  delivery  are 
called  "cash"  or  "spot"  sales. 

General  Warehouse  Receipts. — It  is  obvious  that  a  commodity 
can  be  the  subject  of  extensive  "future"  dealings  only  on 
condition  that  it  has  the  representative  quality.  Early  lake 
and  canal  shipments  of  wheat  were  sold  ahead  by  sample  "to 
arrive"  and  "for  shipment"  as  an  insurance  against  fluctuating 
prices,  but  the  system  of  grading  and  general  receipts  alone 
made  possible  the  real  future,  which  is  the  great  modern  con- 
tribution to  the  machinery  of  speculation.  These  general  re- 
ceipts are  usually  reliable,  although  at  least  one  gigantic  swindle 
has  been  perpetrated  by  means  of  fraudulent  warehouse  re- 
ceipts. From  the  beginning,  however,  the  receipts  have  been 
considered  as  good  as  the  wheat  which  they  represented.  In 
other  words,  wheat  had  become  a  perfect  representative  com- 
modity. Being  a  staple  article  when  classified,  receipts  issued 
against  graded  wheat  are  as  current  and  negotiable  as  a  bank 
check.  They  have  the  same  meaning  in  Liverpool  or  Antwerp 


246  LTHE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

as  in  Chicago  br^New  York.'  This  greatly  facilitates  dealing  i 
wheat,  for  a  contract  can  be  fulfilled  by  delivering  a  receip 
Under  ordinary  conditions  such  receipts  can  be  purchased  in  th 
open  market  at  any  time,  and  consequently  it  is  possible  t 
make  a  contract  to  deliver  in  the  future  receipts  not  yet  ownec 
Short  sales  of  receipts  complete  the  speculative  machinery. 

"Hedging  Sales." — Two  lines  of  compensating  contracts  ar 
frequently  carried  by  dealers  and  manufacturers,  one  in  thei 
business  and  one  in  the  speculative  market.  For  example,  if 
merchant  buys  10,000  bushels  of  wheat  for  export,  he  sells  th 
same  quantity  of  wheat  in  the  speculative  market.  Later,  whe 
he  sells  his  wheat,  he  buys  in  the  market.  Hedging  in  this  man 
ner  is  widely  practiced  by  persons  who  deal  in  wheat  for  trad 
profits  only,  for  it  eliminates  all  risks  due  to  fluctuating  prices 

Arbitrage  Transactions  consist  in  buying  in  one  market  an< 
selling  in  another  when  there  is  difference  enough  between  th 
prices  of  the  two  markets  to  make  such  operations  profitable 
Arbitrage  continues  until  the  relative  supply  and  demand  o 
the  two  markets  is  so  changed  that  prices  in  both  markets  ar 
practically  the  same.  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that  specu 
lators  change  prices  at  will  by  manipulating  supply  and  demanc 
in  the  various  markets,  for  the  speculative  supply  and  demam 
in  the  market  are,  under  normal  conditions,  entirely  dependen 
upon  the  actual  supply  and  demand  existing  outside  of  th< 
market. 

The  Functions  of  Speculation. — Speculation  is  the  flywhee 
which  imparts  to  the  modern  commercial  machine  a  motion  S( 
uniform  that  all  of  its  parts  operate  continuously  and  simul 
taneously.  As  men  produce  and  consume,  as  well  as  exchange 
according  to  comparative  prices,  it  also  directs  the  productior 
and  consumption  of  commodities  into  the  most  advantageous 
channels.  Professional  speculators  are  the  men  best  equipped 
for  securing  and  interpreting  news  of  variations  in  supply  and 
demand,  and  they  determine  a  price  that,  with  slight  local  varia- 
tions, prevails  throughout  the  wheat  industry  of  the  entire 
world.  Price,  in  turn,  is  a  sensitive  barometer  Avhich  records 
the  influence  of  every  event  which  immediately  or  mediately 
affects  supply  or  demand.  Speculation  anticipates  price-deter- 
mining events  to  such  an  extent  that  it  relieves  the  producer 
from  the  risk  of  growing  wheat  that  he  may  be  obliged  to  sell 


THE   PRICE   OF   WHEAT  247 

below  the  cost  of  production  on  account  of  an  unforeseen  change 
in  the  market.  The  directive  control  exerted  through  prices 
"is  its  service  to  society  in  general."  The  "risk-bearing  func- 
tion is  its  service  to  trade  as  such."  That  the  need  of  specu- 
lation is  proportionate  to  the  magnitude  of  the  risk  element  is 
axiomatic.  Through  the  speculative  market  flows  a  continuously 
moving  stream  of  business  which  will  carry  the  risks  of  mer- 
chant, producer,  manufacturer  and  consumer  alike,  and  at  any 
time  or  place.  Speculation  alone  makes  hedging  transactions 
possible.  By  its  anticipations,  it  lessens  price  fluctuations.  The 
short  seller  is  the  most  potent  influence  in  preventing  wide 
fluctuations  in  price,  for  he  "keeps  prices  down  by  short  sales 
and  then  keeps  them  strong  by  his  covering  purchases. ' ' *  The 
producer  always  finds  a  ready  market,  and  large  stocks  of  wheat 
can  be  carried  over  from  a  season  of  abundance  to  one  of 
scarcity  without  great  risk  of  loss. 

The  Speculator. — The  American  is  unquestionably  the  greatest 
and  most  typical  of  all  wheat  speculators.  The  stupendous 
undertakings  which  he  sometimes  assumes  are  characterized 
with  an  importance,  as  well  as*  with  a  boldness  and  a  brilliancy, 
that  excites  world-wide  interest.  He  is  practically  the  manager 
and  director  of  the  world's  wheat  movement.  If  objection  is 
made  to  the  great  scope  of  his  influence,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  experience  has  already  taught  him  that  he  cannot  continue 
long  in  his  position  of  importance  unless  he  solves  the  mighty 
world  problem  that  is  ever  presenting  itself,  the  problem  of 
providing  bread  for  the  non-producers  of  wheat.  Eminently 
practical  and  clearheaded,  his  future  vision  is  as  keen  and  pene- 
trating as  was  that  of  the  prophets  of  old.  He  is  necessarily  a 
cosmopolite,  and  he  knows  the  traits  and  needs  of  many  races. 
His  facilities  for  acquiring  information  are  unsurpassed.  The 
governmental  weather  map  shows  him  the  rising  storm  which 
threatens  Kansas  wheat.  The  experiment  station  bulletin 'in- 
forms him  that  the  next  year's  crop  will  be  damaged  20  per 
cent  by  the  Hessian  fly.  The  state  government  weighs  and 
grades  his  wheat.  He  knows  the  progress  of  harvesting  in  Aus- 
tralia and  Argentina.  The  transportation  companies  give  him 
regular  quotations  of  freight  rates  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Telegrams  and  cablegrams  give  him  immediately  the  changes  of 
1  Emery,  Speculation,  p.  121, 


248  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

price  in  the  principal  markets.  He  has  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  visible  supply  of  wheat  that  is  stored  in  the  world's 
great  terminal  elevators,  and  of  the  wheat  that  is  being  trans- 
ported in  car  and  vessel.  His  eye  is  always  on  the  fine  waver- 
ing ratio  line  between  supply  and  demand,  and  from  its  move- 
ments he  determines  the  form  of  his  price  line.  The  markets 
make  wheat  so  liquid  for  him  that  the  banks  will  advance  him 
money  at  the  lowest  rates  on  elevator  certificates  in  larger  pro- 
portion to  their  value  than  they  will  on  the  safest  real  estate. 

The  Pit — The  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  is  perhaps  the  most 
powerful  and  famous  institution  which  furnishes  an  organiza- 
tion for  dealing  in  wheat.  When  the  speculators  assemble  in 
the  pit,  the  board  become  a  clearing  house  of  opinion  that  forms 
a  very  picturesque  and  dramatic  institution.  Their  methods  of 
business  are  an  excellent  illustration  of  development  brought 
about  simply  by  utility.*'  The  very  life  of  the  institution  de- 
pends upon  the  scrupulous  honesty  of  all  its  members.  It  is 
more  profitable  for  the  operators  to  make  certain  honest  gains 
than  to  destroy  the  institution  by  endeavoring  to  make  dis- 
honest ones,  and  the  degree  of  integrity  that  can  be  attained 
under  these  circumstances  is  truly  remarkable.  Not  that 
brokers  and  speculators  are  an  unusually  upright  class  of  men, 
as  judged  by  their  actions  when  not  operating  on  the  exchange, 
but  that  it  simply  pays  to  be  honest.  Any  quantity  of  wheat 
can  be  bought  on  the  floor  of  the  exchange  by  a  sign,  a  nod  or  a 
shout,  or  by  a  scrawl  on  a  trading  card.  Either  party  to  the 
deal  could  easily  claim  that  the  sign  had  not  been  noticed  or 
understood,  and  the  contention  could  not  be  disproven,  nor 
could  the  contract  be  enforced  before  any  court  in  the  land. 
Considering  the  great  confusion  and  excitement  of  the  pit,  the 
ease  and  rapidity  with  which  fortunes  are  often  made  and  lost, 
and  the  many  opportunities  and  temptations  for  dishonest  deal- 
ings, it  is  certainly  an  exceptional  record  that  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Trade  finds  it  necessary  to  expel  on  an  average  only 
five  members  a  year. 

The  Volume  of  Transactions. — Perhaps  90  per  cent  of  all 
transactions  on  the  Chicago  board  are  pure  speculation,  neither 
side  expecting  to  receive  or  deliver  a  bushel  of  grain.  The 
"spot"  sales  on  the  New  York  produce  exchange  in  1895 
amounted  to  43,405,076  bushels,  while  the  "futures"  amounted 


THE  PRiCE   OF  WHEAT  249 

to  1,443,875,000  bushels.  The  New  York  market  for  wheat  is 
small  compared  to  that  of  Chicago.  Record  of  the  amount  of 
trading  in  options  is  no  longer  kept,  but  in  a  lively  market  it 
runs  into  millions  of  bushels  daily.  Under  very  exceptional 
circumstances  it  is  said  that  ten  million  bushels  of  wheat  have 
been  sold  in  the  Chicago  pit  in  lesB  than  ten  minutes. 

The  unit  on  the  Chicago  and  New  York  exchanges  is  5,000 
bushels  of  wheat.  In  Chicago  1  per  cent  variation  is  allowed 
on  the  contract,  and  in  New  York  5  per  cent.  When  wheat  is 
sold  in  " boat-load  lots  to  arrive"  8,000  bushels  is  understood  as 
the  unit,  and  10  per  cent  deficit  or  excess  does  not  vitiate  the 
delivery. 

The  Evils  of  Speculation. — The  modern  speculative  system  is 
of  such  recent  origin,  and  its  operations  seem  so  complex  to  the 
ordinary  layman  who  is  unacquainted  with  produce  exchanges, 
that  it  was  and  is  little  understood.  Its  evils  were  more  easily 
recognized  than  its  benefits.  Without  an  understanding  of 
speculation,  it  was  easy  to  ascribe  many  evils  to  it  with  which  it 
had  no  connection.  "The  modern  system  of  { futures'  has 
proved  itself  a  convenient  scapegoat  for  all  the  evils  of  the  grain 
trade.  It  is  charged  with  being  the  cause  of  low  prices  and  of 
high  prices,  with  increasing  trade  risks,  and  with  diminishing 
them  till  there  is  no  chance  for  profit.  A  few  years  ago  the 
farming  class  clamored  for  the  suppression  of  the  speculative 
market,  while  recently  the  Kansas  farmers  started  a  movement 
to  contribute  a  cent  a  bushel  on  all  their  wheat  to  a  fund  for 
the  benefit  of  the  most  daring  speculator  of  the  Chicago  mar- 
ket."1 As  the  functions  of  modern  speculation  were  better  un- 
derstood, its  advantage  became  more  apparent,  and  the  specu- 
lator was  looked  upon  as  something  more  than  a  mere  gambler. 
Opposition  became  more  rational  and  less  intense.  The  evils  of 
speculation  may  be  divided  into  three  general  classes:  (1)  Cor- 
ners; (2)  public  gambling  and  "bucket  shops;"  and  (3)  manip- 
ulations in  general. 

Corners. — To  "corner"  wheat  is  to  secure  such  a  control  over 
the  existing  supply  as  to  be  able  to  dictate  its  price.  Success 
in  this  is  so  difficult  that  it  is  very  rare.  Corners  and  the  op- 
position to  them  are  not  of  modern  origin,  for  even  in  antiquity 
there  were  prohibitions  to  cornering  grain.2  Perhaps  the  first 

1  Emery,    Econ.    Jour.    (1899)    9:45. 

2  Lexis,    Handworterbuch    d.    Staatswissenschaften,  3:861. 


250  THE    BOOK    OP   WHEAT 

great  corner  was  that  of  Joseph  in  Egypt.  He  bought  grain 
outright.  This  was  the  only  type  of  corner  that  could  be  effected 
before  the  advent  of  the  modern  speculative  market.  The  appear- 
ance «f  the  world  market  has  made  impossible  the  perfect  con- 
trol of  the  whole  supply  of  actual  wheat.  Even  partial  control  is 
possible  only  under  very  unusual  and  favorable  conditions. 
Neither  can  any  great  or  extended  control  over  local  supply  bo 
maintained,  on  account  of  the  ease  and  rapidity  with  which 
wheat  can  be  transported  to  any  market. 

The  speculative  corner  arose  with  the  practice  of  selling  short. 
This  is  not  a  corner  of  the  world  supply  of  wheat,  but  only  of 
wheat  for  delivery  at  a  particular  time  and  place.  Such  a  cor- 
ner is  always  run  by  the  bulls,  who  effect  the  overselling  of  the 
market  by  securing  control  of  local  supplies  and  by  inducing 
short-selling.  The  result  is  that  there  is  no  wheat  with  which 
to  cover  short-sales.  Such  a  corner  is  absolutely  effective,  for 
the  short  sellers  must  cover  their  contracts  before  the  end  of 
the  month,  or  default.  It  is  not  without  its  difficulties,  how- 
ever. In  order  that  the  shorts  can  move  no  wheat  for  delivery 
except  on  the  terms  of  the  cornerer,  he  must  buy  at  rising 
prices  all  that  is  offered.  Almost  invariably  the  amount  that 
can  be  offered  at  the  increased  prices  is  more  than  was  calcu- 
lated. Corners  in  Chicago  have  beeft  broken  by  the  big  Minne- 
sota millers  who,  at  the  last  moment,  have  found  it  profitable 
to  sell  their  large  stores  by  telegraph.  After  the  corners  were 
broken,  they  could  buy  back  most  of  this  wheat  before  it  had 
left  their  elevators. 

After  the  supply  has  been  successfully  cornered  the  hardest 
part  of  the  game  is  still  to  be  played.  The  grain  accumulated 
in  cornering  the  supply  must  be  disposed  of.  This  is  what 
Hutchinson,  the  first  great  cornerer,  called  "getting  rid  of  the 
corpse."  High  prices  were  paid  for  enormous  quantities  of 
wheat  that  must  be  sold  on  a  continually  falling  market,  for 
after  the  cornerer  settles  with  the  shorts  the  price  falls  at 
once.  He  must  squeeze  enough  out  of  the  shorts  to  make  him- 
self whole  in  selling  his  own  accumulation  at  the  lower  price. 
In  such  a  corner  wheat  in  general  does  not  rise  in  price,  but 
only  wheat  for  delivery  at  a  particular  time  in  that  market 
where  the  corner  was  run. 


THE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT  251 

As  Chicago  is  the  great  center  of  the  wheat  trade,  it  is  the 
most  advantageous  place  for  running  a  corner,  and  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Trade  has  been  the  scene  of  the  great  corners.  The 
first  one  was  run  by  B.  P.  Hutchinson  in  1867.  He  bought  the 
million  bushels  of  contract  wheat  stored  in  Chicago  warehouses, 
and  all  of  the  options,  or  privileges,  that  he  could  induce  the 
shorts  to  sell.  At  the  maturity  of  their  contracts,  the  sellers 
were  unable  to  deliver  the  wheat  which  they  had  sold.  They 
" walked  to  the  captain's  office,"  and  settled  their  accounts 
at  $2.85  per  bushel.  Within  an  hour  after  they  had  settled, 
the  price  of  wheat  fell  50  cents,  and  within  a  day  it  fell  90 
cents.  It  was  an  attractive  manipulation,  and  looked  easy. 
John  B.  Lyon  repeated  the  operation  Suring  the  next  year,  and 
the  price  rose  to  $2.20  per  bushel.  In  1872,  Lyon  started  an- 
other corner,  but  the  Northwest  now  had  more  wheat  than  he 
could  control  with  his  limited  capital.  The  corner  broke  ruin- 
ously, and  within  two  days  the  price  fell  50  cents.  Corners  were 
run  on  the  Chicago  board  in  1880,  1881  and  1882,  but  they  were 
of  no  great  magnitude. 

In  1887  a  mysterious  "bull  clique "  was  buying  strongly  of 
the  May  option.  The  clique  was  variously  accredited  as  being 
John  W.  Mackay  and  his  bonanza  friends;  as  the  Standard  Oil 
millionaires;  and  as  E.  L.  Harper  and  some  of  his  Cincinnati 
associates.  The  conflict  between  the  clique  and  the  trade  re- 
sulted disastrously  to  the  former.  When  the  wreck  was  cleared 
away,  E.  L.  Harper  was  found  in  the  debris.  Accused  of  looting 
the  Fidelity  National  bank  of  Cincinnati,  of  which  he  was 
vice-president,  he  was  sent  to  the  Ohio  penitentiary,  but  was 
subsequently  pardoned.1  The  last  chapter  of  the  corner  was 
written  in  1906,  when  the  United  States  circuit  court  rendered  a 
verdict  against  E.  L.  Harper  for  $5,280,333  in  favor  of  the  re- 
ceiver of  the  Cincinnati  bank. 2 

Another  corner  put  wheat  to  the  two  dollar  mark  in  1888. 
This  was  a  corner  in  September  wheat,  and  B.  P.  Hutchinson 
was  again  a  prominent  manipulator.  He  figured  that  not  more 
than  three  million  bushels  could  be  delivered  to  him  on  his 
contracts,  but  this  amount  was  exceeded  by  330,000  bushels  on 
the  last  day  of  September.  It  was  these,  and  not  the  three 

1  Payne,   Century,    65:748. 

2  Wall  St.  Jour.,  Jan.   6,   1906. 


252  THE    BOOK   OP   WHEAT 

million,  that  seemed  excessive.1  It  was  the  same  old  story  of 
the  supply  at  the  increased  price  being  underestimated. 

The  difficulties  of  running  a  corner  increased  with  the  world's 
production  of  wheat.  Not  only  did  it  require  more  capital  on 
account  of  the  greater  supply  of  wheat,  but  there  were  always 
many  sources  from  which  wheat  unexpectedly  poured  into  the 
market  and  broke  the  price.  In  the  eighties,  India  wheat  be- 
came a  factor  in  defeating  corners  in  the  Chicago  and  San 
Francisco  markets.  As  the  operations  of  the  bull  clique  in- 
crease in  magnitude  they  cannot  be  concealed,  and  "the  shorts 
become  extremely  wary  about  getting  in  too  deep."  Traders 
as  a  class  had  a  pronounced  aversion  to  corners, ' '  for  they  broke 
people,  unsettled  values,  and  made  the  pit  as  dangerous  as  a 
powder  mine."  By  1878,  many  of  those  who  were  best  quali- 
fied to  know  did  not  believe  that  it  was  still  possible  to  run  a 
successful  corner. 

In  spite  of  all  these  opinions,  however,  in  spite  of  the  gigantic 
magnitude  and  numerous  difficulties  of  the  task,  it  remained 
for  a  young  man  with  great  command  of  capital,  with  amazing 
audacity,  with  unlimited  self-confidence,  with  an  unusual  capac- 
ity for  appreciating  and  comprehending  extensive  business  sit- 
uations, and  with  a  prodigious  recklessness,  to  show  that  even 
under  conditions  existing  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
not  only  is  a  successful  speculative  corner  possible,  but  also  a 
corner  in  actual  wheat. 2  Joseph  Leiter  appeared  in  1897,  and 
his  operations  extended  over  about  a  year  before  they  closed  in 
June,  1898.  He  began  with  the  strongest  position  ever  held  in 
the  wheat  trade,  for  the  world's  wheat  crop  in  1897  was  less 
than  that  of  1894  by  over  400,000,000  bushels,  and  less  than  that 
of  1895  by  over  300,000,000  bushels,  while  the  production  of 
Europe  was  over  200,000,000  bushels  less  in  1897  than  in  1896. 
The  United  States  was  practically  the  only  country  that  had  a 
large  surplus  for  export.  Leiter 's  plan  was  to  control  this  sur- 
plus, and  make  Europe  pay  his  price  for  it.  With  this  end  in 
view,  he  sent  an  army  of  purchasers  into  the  Northwest,  "con- 
tracted for  vast  storage  space,  chartered  miles  of  cars  and  a 

1  Hutchinson,    N.    Amer.    Rev.,    153:416-7. 

2  For  verifying  the  correctness  of  this    account    of    the    Leiter 
corner  and  for  furnishing  important  statistics  used  in  the  account, 
the  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Joseph  Leiter,  who  ran  the  corner. 


THE  PRICE  OF   WHEAT  253 

whole  fleet  of  vessels,  secured  large  contracts  for  delivery 
abroad,  and  prepared  to  supply  all  comers  at  good  prices. " 

Opposed  to  Leiter  were  the  elevator  interests,  headed  by 
Philip  Armour,  as  wily  and  dangerous  opponent  in  a  wheat  deal 
as  could  well  be  found.  Leiter  was  endeavoring  to  establish  his 
corner  by  buying  more  wheat  than  Armour  could  deliver.  Ar- 
mour was  endeavoring  to  deliver  more  wheat  than  Leiter  could 
pay  for,  and  thus  break  his  price.  The  battle  for  supremacy 
which  followed  is  one  of  the  most  spectacular  in  our  commercial 
history.  Leiter  soon  held  not  only  millions  of  bushels  of  actual 
wheat,  but  also  contracts  for  millions  of  bushels  of  the  Decem- 
ber delivery  in  Chicago.  The  latter  were  chiefly  short  sales  by 
Armour  and  the  elevator  people,  who  already  held  enormous 
quantities  of  wheat,  and  who  expected  to  deliver  actual  wheat 
for  every  bushel  contracted.  Being  in  the  elevator  business, 
they  were  thoroughly  equipped  for  extensive  buying  and  rapid 
delivery.  Their  agents  and  those  of  Leiter  frequently  were 
competitors  in  securing  grain.  With  such  competition,  the  price 
of  wheat  began  to  jump.  At  every  upward  movement  of  the 
price  "grain  appeared  as  if  by  magic."  By  December  it  was 
thought  that  Leiter  had  the  Chicago  market  cornered,  but  Ar- 
mour used  steel  prowed  tugs  in  plowing  through  the  ice  at  the 
head  of  the  lakes,  and  made  a  midwinter  movement  by  lake  and 
rail  of  6,000,000  bushels  from  the  interior.  Unprecedented  quan- 
tities of  wheat  were  poured  into  Chicago.  With  perfect  equa- 
nimity, Leiter  not  only  paid  for  every  bushel  of  it,  but  marked 
the  price  up  from  85  cents  to  $1.09.  He  is  reported  to  have 
taken  over  nine  million  bushels  in  one  month.  Armour  was 
able  to  deliver  all  that  he  had  sold,  and  Leiter  was  able  to  pay 
for  all  that  he  had  bought.  A  great  battle  had  been  fought,  but 
which  man  out-generaled  the  other,  and  with  whom  was  the 
victory?  The  bond  was  paid,  but  just  what  its  nominations 
were  will  perhaps  never  be  known. 

After  the  deal,  Leiter  owned  enormous  quantities  of  wheat. 
He  seemed  in  no  haste  to  sell,  however,  and  began  buying  May 
wheat.  His  ambition  seemed  boundless,  and  his  confidence  un- 
paralleled. The  tension  was  great,  and  his  movements  were 
watched  by  the  trade  and  by  the  public  with  the  intensest 
interest.  The  foreign  demand  remained  strong,  and  all  of  the 
1  Emery,  Econ.  Jour..  9:56. 


254  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

market  factors  were  bullish.  The  Spanish-American  war  could 
not  have  come  more  opportunely  if  it  had  been  contrived  for 
the  deal.  Europe  now  desired  to  purchase  its  wheat  at  once, 
for  a  grave  vision  of  Spanish  men-of-war  cutting  off  American 
wheat  shipments  arose.  The  French  import  duties  of  36  cents 
per  bushel  were  suspended.  Other  countries  suspended  similar 
duties.  Anticipations  of  bearish  crop  news  were  not  fulfilled. 
These  conditions  were  most  favorable  for  the  exportation  of 
wheat,  and  Leiter  took  every  advantage  of  them.  He  seemed 
to  have  a  monopoly  of  the  wheat  business.  How  profitable  a 
business  it  was,  however,  is  not  known,  for  many  claims  were 
made  that  he  was  paying  freight  charges  and  granting  large  dis- 
counts on  export  wheat.  That  the  demand  was  not  purely  spec- 
ulative is  shown  by  the  fact  that  low  grades  of  wheat  were 
bought  heavily.  Leiter 's  profits  were  figured  far  into  the  mil- 
lions by  the  newspapers,  and  the  pluck  and  coolness  with  which 
he  had  carried  through  the  great  deal  largely  won  for  him  the 
admiration  of  the  American  public,  in  spite  of  the  prejudice 
against  speculation.  He  continued  operations  by  selling  off  his 
May  wheat  and  buying  about  all  the  cash  wheat  that  came  into 
the  market.  His  further  purchases  may  have  been  necessary 
in  order  to  maintain  prices,  but  it  was  a  widely  prevalent  opin- 
ion that  he  courted  the  inevitable  by  not  furling  sail. 

It  is  claimed  that  at  one  time  in  his  wheat  corner  Leiter  had 
$5,000;000  profits,  but  in  the  end  he  lost  this  and  millions  more. 
Wheat  bought  by  him  as  low  as  64%  cents  per  bushel  sold  at 
$1.85.  At  one  period  he  controlled  35,000,000  bushels  of  cash 
wheat  and  over  140,000,000  bushels  under  options.  He  ex- 
ported and  sold  25,000,000  bushels  during  the  course  of  his 
famous  deal.  He  was  carrying  about  15,000,000  bushels  of 
cash  wheat  in  the  Northwest  and  in  the  course  of  transporta- 
tion to  Europe  on  June  13,  1898,  when  the  tremendous  load  be- 
came too  .heavy  to  carry,  and  his  deal  ended. 

The  details  of  his  manipulations  cannot  be  known.  He 
doubtless  lost  a  fortune,  and  he  completely  disorganized  the 
wheat  business  for  10  months.  It  is  claimed  that  "  Leiter  ?s 
gambling  in  human  food"  caused  a  great  rise  in  the  price  of 
bread  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  and  that  it  brought 
about  riots  and  bloodshed  in  Italy.  While  the  operations  of 
Leiter  undoubtedly  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  price  of 


THE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT  255 

wheat,  an  influence  that  was  not  merely  that  of  a  speculative 
squeeze,  but  such  as  to  be  felt  throughout  the  world,  it  is  en- 
tirely unjust  to  attribute  to  them  the  great  rise  in  price  and 
consequent  hardships,  for  "the  high  prices  of  wheat  from 
August  to  June  were  not  mainly  the  work  of  Mr.  Leiter.  For 
the  first  time  in  many  years  the  bears  in  the  wheat  market  were 
destined  to  learn  the  lesson  that  the  production  of  wheat  might 
run  far  short  of  the  required  needs,  and,  whatever  direction 
the  efforts  at  manipulation  had  taken,  the  price  of  wheat  was 
bound  to  make  remarkable  advances  in  the  season  1897-98. 
Leiter  was  wise  enough  to  recognize  the  way  things  were  going 
and  to  early  put  himself  in  a  positon  to  profit  from  the  in- 
evitable outcome,  and  it  was  only  when  he  tried  to  control  the 
market  in  the  face  of  adverse  conditions  that  he  failed. ' ' 1 

It  is  claimed  that  an  international  corner  of  the  surplus  wheat 
of  the  world  was  proposed  to  the  United  States  by  the  Russian 
government  in  1896.  The  two  governments  were  to  buy  wheat 
at  $1  a  bushel,  and  were  to  sell  none  below  the  price  which 
would  cover  all  expense  of  buying  it.  The  theory  was  that  all 
of  the  wheat  which  could  be  produced  at  that  price  would  be 
needed  for  food,  and  that  the  consumers  would  pay  the  price 
without  either  government  having  to  buy  any  wheat.  This  vis- 
ionary plan  met  with  no  support  from  the  United  States. 

Public  Gambling  and  "Bucket  Shops." — The  ordinary  dealer 
or  producer  can  do  nothing  more  foolhardy  than  to  risk  his 
small  capital  in  speculating  and  "playing  the  market,"  for  he 
has  no  means  of  adequately  knowing  the  world-wide  conditions 
which  determine  price,  he  has  not  the  judgment  for  properly  in- 
terpreting such  conditions  even  if  he  could  know  them,  and 
those  conditions  often  bring  about  results  of  such  a  magnitude 
as  to  sink  a  fortune  completely  in  a  very  short  time,  if  the 
speculator  does  not  keep  in  touch  and  harmony  with  price- 
determining  events.  The  character  of  speculation  has  changed 
somewhat  with  the  increase  in  wheat  supply,  and  fortunes  are 
now  made  by  men  who  watch  the  drift,  and  shape  their  way 
from  day  to  day,  "like  prudent  merchants,  according  to  the 
current. ' ' 

The  "bucket  shop"  made  its  first  appearance  about  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago.  It  is  always  ready  to  take  the  opposite  side 
1  Emery,  Econ.  Jour.,  9:62. 


256  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

of  any  speculative  transaction  which  may  be  proposed.  It  deals 
on  margins  only,  and  as  a  rule  its  transactions  are  never  exe- 
cuted either  in  a  market  or  on  a  board  of  trade.  It  acts  as  a 
clearing  house  for  the  deals  of  its  patrons  by  matching  con- 
tracts, that  is,  purchases  and  sales.  Those  contracts  that  are 
matched  cancel  each  other,  at  least  as  far  as  the  bucket  shop  is 
concerned.  Being  simply  booked,  they  never  come  into  the 
market,  and  can  have  no  effect  on  prices.  It  is  only  when  the 
bucket  shop  has  a  large  balance  of  contracts  on  one  side  of  the 
market  that  it  sometimes  fears  a  loss  and  seeks  insurance  by 
itself  making  the  counterbalancing  transactions  in  the  specu- 
lative market.  It  is  only  this  small  fraction  of  the  bucket 
shop's  transactions  that  really  comes  into  the  market  and  af- 
fects prices  through  the  medium  of  the  speculative  supply  and 
demand. 

According  to  the  law  of  chances,  the  bucket  shop  has  an  en- 
tirely safe  and  sound  basis  from  its  own  point  of  view.  By 
matching  contracts  it  makes  its  patrons  carry  the  greatest  part 
of  its  insurance.  The  remainder  of  the  insurance  is  carried  by 
the  bucket  shop  itself.  Its  advantages  over  its  patrons  are  in 
three  ways.  It  carries  the  risks  of  only  a  small  fraction  of  the 
contracts  involved.  As  a  result  of  this,  on  a  relatively  smaller 
amount  of  capital,  its  chances  of  permanency  are  greatly  in- 
creased. By  being  in  continuous  existence  it  secures  the  effects 
of  advantageous  changes  in  price  as  well  as  the  disadvantageous 
ones.  These  will,  at  least  in  a  measure,  offset  each  other.  It 
charges  the  same  commissions  as  the  exchanges  and  thus  has 
a  substantial  income.  The  speculator,  however,  not  only  must 
carry  all  of  his  risks  himself,  but  usually  his  capital  is  also  very 
limited  and  he  has  no  regular  income  from  transactions.  When 
his  capital  has  been  engulfed  by  a  disadvantageous  change  in 
price,  his  operations  must  cease,  and  he  secures  no  benefits  from 
subsequent  advantageous  changes.  The  great  revenue  of  the 
bucket  shop  consists  chiefly  of  its  commissions,  but  it  is  also 
continually  acquiring  the  capital  which  is  sunk  by  its  patrons. 
How  certain  a  process  this  is,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  list 
of  names  of  those  dealing  with  the  bucket  shop  usually  changes 
completely  within  a  few  years.  If  the  game  were  a  profitable 
one  to  the  speculator,  it  is  quite  safe  to  assume  that  his  name 
would  remain  permanently  on  the  list. 


THE  PRICE  OP  WHEAT  257 

Not  only  is  it  true  that  "the  local  bucket  shop  is  as  effica- 
cious" as  the  board  of  trade  in  enabling  the  "novice  prophets " 
to  exploit  their  theories  and  lose  their  money,  but  it  is  proving 
itself  to  be  more  so.  Varying  estimates  assume  that  there  are 
from  10,000  to  25,000  bucket  shops  scattered  throughout  the 
whole  country.  This  is  ample  evidence  of  the  profits  of  the 
business.  Competent  observers  have  estimated  that  these  es- 
tablishments have  deflected  from  the  regular  speculative  ex- 
changes from  50  to  75  per  cent  of  the  business  that  would 
otherwise  go  to  them.  The  New  York  stock  exchange  requires 
the  speculator  to  deposit  a  10  per  cent  margin  on  his  transac- 
tions, and  the  smallest  unit  traded  is  100  shares.  The  consoli- 
dated exchange  in  Chicago  requires  a  5  per  cent  margin,  with 
10  shares  as  a  minimum  unit  traded.  These  minima  are  large 
enough  to  keep  out  a  large  class  of  persons  with  small  capital 
whose  operations  are  pure  gambling.  The  bucket  shop,  how- 
ever, usually  requires  a  margin  of  only  1  per  cent,  and  the 
minimum  unit  traded  varies  from  ten  to  two  shares.  The 
bucket  shop  is  prepared  to  do  business  with  a  half  point  margin 
on  two  shares.  What  is  true  of  stock  is  also  true  of  wheat  as 
to  the  relative  size  of  margins  required  and  units  traded  on 
regular  exchanges  and  on  bucket  shops.  Consequently  the 
bucket  shop  affords  greater  opportunity  than  the  exchange  to 
"play  the  market"  and  it  is  more  frequently  sought  by  those 
who  have  little  capital  and  less  knowledge  on  which  to 
"speculate." 

The  professional  speculator  has  a  true  economic  function  in 
our  system  of  distribution,  but  gambling  by  outsiders  is  per- 
nicious, and  should  be  done  away  with  as  soon  as  this  is  practi- 
cable. Such  gambling,  however,  is  not  more  pernicious  when 
done  on  the  floor  of  a  bucket  shop  than  when  done  on  the  floor 
of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  a  fact  recognized  by  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  in  more  than  one  instance.  In 
view  of  the  business  which  the  bucket  shop  is  diverting  from 
the  regular  exchanges,  it  is  but  natural  that  the  latter  should 
oppose  the  bucket  shop  with  all  their  powers.  Greatly  as  the 
boards  of  trade  pride  themselves  over  the  high  and  lofty  plane 
of  honor  upon  which  they  transact  business,  they  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  designate1  uncompromisingly  as  "pernicious  gambling" 
1  Hill,  N.  Y.  Commercial,  Sept.,  1903.  Indus.  Com.,  Vol.  6. 


258  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

the  operations  of  bucket  shops — the  very  operations,  in  a  large 
measure,  that  were  formerly  carried  on  upon  the  boards  of 
trade.  This  opposition  is  merely  an  effort  to  regain  that  part 
of  their  business  which  has  attached  to  it  the  bulk  of  the  evils 
of  all  their  business.  Brokers  "bucket"  orders  on  their  own 
account,  a  practice  which  the  exchanges  endeavor  to  stop. 

Manipulations  in  General. — Speculation  depends  upon  price 
fluctuations,  but  price  fluctuations  are  decreasing.  There  is 
then  the  tendency  to  resort  to  all  possible  "manipulations"  in 
order  to  cause  abnormal  fluctuations  in  price.  Fraudulent  and 
immoral  means  are  often  utilized  in  such  efforts.  In  the  produce 
market  price  can  be  influenced  by  the  operator  in  only  two  ways. 
"He  must  either  buy  or  sell  the  commodity  himself,  or  he 
must  persuade  others  to  buy  or  sell."  By  such  operations, 
however,  a  speculator  with  sufficient  capital  may  bring  about  a 
rise  or  fall  in  price,  but  it  seems  to  require  unexpected  crop 
conditions  favorable  to  the  manipulation  in  order  to  bring 
success. 

Legal  Restraints. — The  feeling  against  speculation  in  the 
United  States  has  been  strongest  when  prices  were  depressed. 
In  the  early  nineties  it  resulted  in  the  introduction  of  several 
"anti-option"  bills  in  congress.  None  of  them  became  a  law, 
but  two  of  them  passed  one  branch  of  congress,  and  there  was 
much  public  sympathy  in  support  of  the  measures.  Much 
earlier  some  of  the  state  legislatures  made  an  effort  to  stop 
trading  in  futures.  Some  very  stringent  laws  were  passed  by 
various  states  during  the  eighties.  They  generally  considered 
short  selling  and  trading  on  margins  as  gambling.  The  ten- 
dency to  legislate  in  this  direction  seems  to  have  lessened,  and 
some  of  the  statutes  which  were  passed  were  soon  repealed. 

Speculation  in  Foreign  Countries. — Sales  of  grain  before  it 
was  threshed  were  forbidden  in  England  in  1357,  and  in  the 
Hanse  cities  in  1417.  Time  dealings  in  grain  were  forbidden  in 
Antwerp  in  1698.  During  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, practices  similar  to  those  of  the  modern  speculative  mar- 
ket were  common  in  the  European  grain  trade.  The  system  did 
not  become  widely  developed,  however,  until  the  nineteenth 
century.  In  1883  the  Liverpool  clearing  house  was  established 
in  connection  with  the  maize  and  wheat  trade.  It  began  after 
the  American  fashion,  but  was  not  extensively  used  before  the 


THE   PRICE  OF  WHEAT  259 

close  of  the  decade.  The  London  produce  clearing  house  began 
business  in  1888,  and  wheat  was  one  of  the  products  dealt  in. 
Business  in  futures,  however,  seems  to  have  appeared  in  London 
as  early  as  1887.  This  first  effort  was  a  failure  on  account  of 
the  prejudice  against  speculation,  and  because  several  stan- 
dards of  wheat  were  dealt  in.  The  London  clearing  house  made 
another  effort  in  1897.  Only  Northern  Spring  No.  1  wheat  was 
dealt  in,  and  to  make  certain  of  the  grade,  a  Duluth  elevator 
certificate  was  always  demanded.  The  grade  in  futures  grew 
slowly  at  first,  but  seems  to  have  become  permanently  estab- 
lished now. 

In  Germany,  a  drastic  law  forbidding  grain  futures  was 
passed  in  1896.  On  the  whole  its  effect  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  advantageous.  As  a  result,  Berlin,  formerly  one  of  the 
most  influential  grain  markets  of  Europe,  has  fallen  to  the  rank 
of  a  provincial  market.  Berlin  merchants  transferred  some  of 
their  speculations  to  Liverpool,  New  York  and  Chicago.  Com- 
mission merchants  have  disappeared,  price  fluctuations  have 
been  greater,  and  the  small  dealer  has  been  at  a  special  disad- 
vantage.1 

Legislation  against  speculation  seems  to  have  been  very  gen- 
eral by  the  time  of  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
One  exception  seems  to  have  been  France,  where  options  and 
futures  were  practically  sanctioned  by  law.  In  Hungary, 
Sweden  and  Norway  there  was  no  legislation  on  futures.  The 
courts  of  Belguim  treated  futures  under  the  general  betting  law. 
In  Switzerland  the  law  prohibited  dealings  in  w^hich  there  was 
no  intention  to  deliver  the  goods.  The  deal  was  not  legal  in 
Austria  unless  the  amount  concerned  had  actually  been  paid  or 
deposited.  In  Greece  dealing  by  payment  of  differences  was 
held  to  be  null  and  void  under  the  old  Roman  law,  which  was 
still  in  force.  Sales  entailing  payment  of  differences  only  were 
illegal  in  Argentina. 

General  Results  of  Speculation. — The  speculative  grower  who 
held  his  wheat  until  it  seemed  an  opportune  time  to  sell  was  the 
far-sighted,  conservative  man  of  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Conditions  have  so  changed  that,  unless  there  is  lack 
of  transportation  facilities,  or  lack  of  competition  among  buy- 
ers, he  is  the  greatest  and  most  reckless  of  all  speculators^  if  the 
1  U,  S,  Consular  Reports,  (54:438-444. 


260  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

degree  of  ignorance  under  which  he  is  operating  is  the  test  of 
recklessness.  Even  many  of  the  large  milling  and  elevator 
companies  insure  themselves  regularly  by  hedging. 

Statistics  show  that  since  the  advent  of  speculation,  fluctua- 
tions in  the  price  of  grain  have  been  of  smaller  extent,  com- 
paring year  by  year.  Such  fluctuations  as  do  remain  are  changes 
of  a  more  gradual  nature,  and  the  gradations  are  much  finer. 
For  example,  wheat  was  formerly  quoted  in  fourths  of  a  cent  a 
bushel,  while  now  it  is  quoted  in  sixteenths  of  a  cent  a  bushel. 
A  half  century  ago,  traders  required  a  margin  of  10  cents  a 
bushel  for  carrying  wheat.  Now  the  margin  is  2  cents.  With 
the  minimizing  of  risks,  profits  for  carrying  them  fell.  In  part, 
these  changes  are  doubtless  the  result  of  other  concomitant  de- 
velopments, but  there  is  no  question  of  their  being  chiefly  due 
to  the  development  of  speculation.1  As  to  the  agreement  of 
present  prices  of  futures  with  future  cash  prices,  little,  if  any, 
increased  accuracy  of  prediction  is  shown.  While  there  have 
been  improvements  in  the  methods  of  speculation,  there  has  also 
been  an  increase  in  the  size  and  complexity  of  the  world  wheat 
market,  a  factor  which  would  tend  to  decrease  the  accuracy  of 
prediction. 

The  increasing  uniformity  of  price  tends  to  decrease  the 
amount  of  business  done  upon  the  exchanges,  for  this  business  is 
dependent  upon  price  variations.  This  tendency  of  prices  to 
remain  more  steady  will  be  increased  with  the  further  con- 
centration of  commercial  wheat  interests.  A  similar  develop- 
ment has  taken  place  in  the  case  of  other  commodities,  such  as 
oil  and  pork.  In  these  commodities  prices  are  practically 
fixed  by  a  small  group  of  men  who  know,  and,  in  a  measure, 
control  supply  and  demand,  and  there  are  few  price  fluctuations 
left  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  speculative  dealings.  Consequently 
operations  no  longer  have  their  former  magnitude.  Local  con- 
sumption of  wheat  will  increase  with  the  growth  of  population, 
and  less  actual  wheat  will  be  bought  and  sold  at  the  terminal 
and  export  markets.  The  force  of  these  influences  is  certain 
to  be  reflected  on  the  speculative  exchanges.  The  opportunity 
for  men  to  indulge  their  gambling  proclivities  by  means  of 
the  bucket  shop;  the  growing  prosperity  of  the  country;  the 
increasing  steadiness  of  the  price  of  wheat  on  account  of  the, 
1  Emery,  Speculation,  pp.  124-165. 


THE  PRICE  OF  WHEAT  261 

growing  perfection  of  the  speculative  machinery  and  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  supply  and  demand;  and  the 
increasingly  great  combinations  of  commercial  wheat  interests, 
already  foreshadowed  by  the  large  combinations  of  transporta- 
tion, elevator  and  milling  interests,  will  continually  reduce  the 
importance  of  wheat  as  a  commodity  in  the  speculative  markets 
of  the  world,  perhaps  to  the  extent  of  finally  eliminating  it 
entirely. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
THE   MILLING  OF   WHEAT 

Methods  of  Milling.—  "  The  first  miller  plucked  the  berry  from 
the  stalk,  and  using  his  teeth  for  millstones,  ground  grist  for 
a  customer  who  would  not  be  denied  —  his  stomach."  All  mill- 
ers who  have  succeeded  this  first  pioneer  have  made  use  of  va- 
rious forms  of  apparatus  to  make  the  grinding  process  easier 
and  more  effective.  There  have  been  three  distinct  types  of 
mills  from  which  all  others  are  only  variations,  and  each  one 
of  which  effects  the  reduction  of  the  grain  by  a  method  peculiar 
to  itself:  (1)  The  mortar  and  pestle  type,  in  which  the  work 
is  done  by  grinding  and  rubbing;  (2)  some  form  of  the  machine 
having  two  roughened  surfaces,  between  which  the  grain  is 
crushed  or  cut  through  the  motion  of  one,  and  sometimes  of 
both,  of  the  surfaces;  (3)  the  roller  system  of  milling,  involving 
a  gradual  reduction  or  granulation  process  in  which  the  grain  of 
wheat  is  separated  into  particles  and  reduced  to  successive  de- 
grees of  subdivision  by  being  passed  between  rolls,  first  cor- 
rugated and  then  smooth,  each  successive  series  of  which  has 
an  increased  approximation  of  surfaces. 

The  Mortar  and  Pestle  Type.  —  The  second  miller  was  always 
a  woman.  This  initial  stage  in  the  development  of  milling  was 
marked  by  several  types  of  grinding  devices. 

HANDSTONES.  —  Our  knowledge  of  handstones,  or  "corn" 
stones,  goes  back  to  the  paleolithic  period.  Such  stones  were 
doubtless  first  used  for  pounding  nuts 
and  acorns.  The  same  type  was  used 
the  world  over,  and  there  is  an  abun- 
dance of  specimens.  The  grain  was 
placed  upon  a  second  stone  with  a  flat 
surface.  Pounding  with  the  globular 


HANDSTONE  CUP  tO  be  holl°wed  out 

of  the  lower  stone.  Within  a  few 
feet  of  each  other,  26  such  hollows  have  been  found  in  the  rock 
near  an  Indian  settlement  at  El  Paso,  Texas.  They  are  found 
in  many  parts  of  the  world. 


THE   MILLING   OF   WHEAT  263 

THE  MORTAR  AND  PESTLE. — In  time,  the  globular  crusher  be- 
came oval  in  form,  which  was  of  great  advantage  when  the  cups 
became  deep.     Eventually,   it   elongated   into   the  pestle.     No- 
madic tribes  found  it  advantageous  to  utilize  a  portable  rock 
for  the  under  stone.     Shaped  outside  as 
well    as    inside,    this   became   the   grain 
mortar.      Wooden    mortars    and    pestles 
were    now    also    made    in    imitation    of 
those  made  of  stone.     The  wooden  mor- 
tars were  sometimes  2  feet  in  diameter, 
and  the  pestles  4  feet  in  length.     The 
first    development    in    the    direction    of 
grinding  instead  of  pounding  was  when 
the   pestle    was   ridged    at   the   bottom, 
AMERICAN    INDIAN       and  the  grain  was  partly  pounded  and 

CORN    MORTAR    AND        Partly      grated       V       §iving       a       r°tary 

PESTLE  motion  to  the  handle  of  the  pestle  or 

pounder. 

THE  "SADDLE"  STONE  is  another  type  of  primitive  milling 
devices.  The  upper  surface  of  this  was  made  concave,  and  in 
the  hollow  thus  formed  the  grain  was  rubbed  or  ground  by 
another  stone,  the  muller,  which  was  not  rolled,  but  worked 
backward  and  forward.  This  was  the  first  real  grinding.  Ex- 
perience proved  that  the  upper  stone  should  be  ridged.  From 
the  saddle  stone  evolved  all  later  forms  of  milling  stones. 

These  early  forms  of  the  mill  have  been  used  throughout  the 
world.  Babylon,  Nineveh,  Assyria  and  Egypt  used  them,  and 
they  are  found  in  the  prehistoric  Swiss  lake  dwellings.  The 
Romans  of  Virgil's  time  ground  their  grain  by  hand  between 
two  marble  slabs.  Many  of  the  early  forms  of  mills  have  been 
used  in  the  United  States.  The  settlers  of  Plymouth,  Massa- 
chusetts, used  the  mortar  for  a  decade  or  two.  In  the  ' '  hominy 
block"  of  early  Pennsylvania,  the  bowl  was  a  big  block  of 
wood  burned  or  dug  out.  Sometimes  it  was  found  inside  of  the 
cabin,  and  also  served  as  an  article  of  furniture.  At  other  times 
it  was  merely  a  convenient  stump  in  front  of  the  cabin  door. 
In  the  latter  case  a  nearby  sapling  was  often  bent  over  and  at- 
tached to  the  pestle,  which  it  helped  raise.  Such  mills  were 
replaced  by  power  mills  as  soon  as  population  had  increased 
sufficiently  to  make  the  latter  profitable.  The  Greeks  of  the 


264 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


mortar  period  made  the   first   recorded  milling  revolution  by 
using  male  operatives.     These  were  called   "pounders." 

THE  QUERN  was  the  first  complete  grinding  machine  in  which 
the  parts  were  mechanically  combined,  and  it  also  introduced 
the  circular  motion.  It  was  apparently  unknown  before  200 
B.  C.,  but  it  was  widely  used  at  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  it  is  often  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  The  first  form  of  the 
lower  stone  was  conical,  but  the  later  type  was  flattened.  The 
upper  stone  conformed  to  the  pattern  of  its  mate.  Hollowed  out 
in  the  centre  until  there  was  a  hole  at  its  base,  the  upper  stone 
also  served  as  a  grain  hopper.  The  stone  was  turned  by  a 


THE    QUERN,    AN    EARLY    FORM    OF    STONE    MILL 

handle  inserted  in  its  side.  An  important  improvement  was 
made  at  an  early  date  when  the  grinding  faces  of  the  stone  were 
grooved,  for  the  edges  facilitated  grinding  and  the  grooves 
served  as  channels  through  which  the  meal  was  forced  to  the 
rim  of  the  stones.  This  was  a  rude  foreshadowing  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  methodical  furrowing,  a  process  which  was  not  fully 
developed  until  the  era  of  water  mills.  The  quern  was  the 
original  British  flour  mill,  and  it  is  claimed  that  it  was  still 
used  in  the  mountainous  parts  of  Scotland  a  decade  ago.  When 
the  quern  was  large  the  upper  stone  had  two  handles.  Women 
did  the  grinding.  In  Homer's  time,  the  millers  were  also 
women,  and  it  required  the  labor  of  from  one-tenth  to  one- 
sixteenth  of  the  community  to  prepare  flour.  Ever  since  the 


THE   MILLING   OF  WHEAT  265 

making  of  flour  became  a  distinct  trade,  milling  has  been  es- 
teemed as  an  honorable  occupation.  A  sturdy  and  independent 
character  was  always  ascribed  to  the  miller,  and  he  and  his  mill 
have  been  a  favorite  theme  with  the  writers  of  all  ages. 

Slave  and  Cattle  Mills. — For  many  centuries  the  greatest 
changes  in  the  milling  industry  were  made  in  the  motor  power 
rather  than  in  the  grinding  process  itself.  The  advent  of  the 
quern  and  its  improvements  brought  the  professional  miller,  who 
marked  the  beginning  of  manorial  or  village  milling.  As  the 
quern  increased  in  size  it  ceased  to  be  a  hand  mill,  and  power 
was  applied.  At  first  slaves,  and  even  criminals,  supplied  the 
power.  A  circular  piece  of  wood  was  placed  around  their  necks, 
so  that  they  were  unable  to  put  their  hands  to  the  mouth  and 
eat  of  the  meal.  There  were  also  cattle  mills  which  were  similar 
to  the  slave  mills,  and  for  many  years  in  Rome,  "the  human  ani- 
mals and  their  brute  companions  performed  the  flour-making 
of  the  Eternal  City.'7  Cattle  mills  increased  in  number  after 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  fourth  century.  As  early  as 
1537,  treadmills  were  worked  by  convicts  in  Europe.  They  are 
still  found  in  some  countries,  and  are  the  sole  survivors  of  the 
old  Roman  slave  mills.  The  slave  and  cattle  mills  were 
supposed  to  have  preceded  the  water  mills,  but  the  latter  have 
existed  in  northern  and  western  Europe  prior  to  all  historic 
records.  They  were  also  found  in  Greece,  and  later  in  Rome. 
Besides  the  hand  querns,  the  ancient  Egyptians  had  a  larger 
quern  that  was  worked  by  oxen. 

Wind  and  Water  Mills. — In  many  cases  the  wind  mill  ap- 
peared before  the  water  mill.  In  early  England  wind  was 
utilized  to  a  greater  extent  than  water,  and  wind  mills  were  in 
existence  at  least  as  early  as  1191.  With  the  development  of 
the  mill  stone,  the  grist  mill  appeared.  The  miller  now  ground 
for  a  larger  district,  and  exacted  toll,  called  "mill corn,"  from 
the  farmers.  The  mills  were  generally  owned  by  the  lords  of 
manors,  who  farmed  them  and  their  appurtenant  privileges  to 
the  millers.  The  water  mill  was  introduced  into  England  at  the 
time  of  Julius  Cassar.  In  France,  Italy  and  elsewhere  mention 
of  it  became  common  in  the  fifth  century.  It  was  exactly  like  the 
hand  mill,  except  that  water  was  used  for  power.  Tidal  mills 
were  worked  as  early  as  1526.  The  water  was  impounded  at 
high  tide,  and  the  mills  worked  during  the  ebb.  The  wind  mill 


266 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


seems  to  have  come  into  use  in  England  about  1200.     The  first 
milling  by  steam  was  in  England  in  1784. 

The   earliest  mills   in   the   United   States  were   operated   by 
horse  power,  and  the  toll  was  higher  than  at  -those  where  water 


DETAILS    OF    AN    OLD    DUTCH    WIND    MILL 

or  wind  power  was  used.  The  first  mills  of  the  Red  river  valley 
were  operated  by  oxen,  or  by  wind  power.  In  1870  there  were 
22  flour  mills  in  South  Carolina  that  were  operated  by  horse 


THE  MILLING  OF   WHEAT  267 

power.  In  Texas  there  were  50,  and  17  more  were  driven  by 
oxen,  while  wind  furnished  power  for  five.  Many  of  the  prim- 
itive forms  of  mills  can  -still  be  found  in  operation  in  various 
parts  of  the  world. 

Modern  Improvements  and  Processes. — In  the  first  milling, 
the  entire  wheat  went  into  the  flour.  There  was  no  "  bolting " 
or  classification  of  the  product  by  separating  it  into  several 
grades.  Usually  not  even  the  bran  was  separated.  The  first 
distinctively  modern  improvements  were  in  the  line  of  bolting 
the  flour.  The  primary  sieve  was  an  extended  bag  which  was 
shaken  by  machinery.  Its  first  introduction  was  in  the  power 
mills  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  A  German 
miller  seems  to  have  the  credit  for  bringing  forth  this  reel  as  a 
flour-dressing  device.  It  was  the  predecessor  of  all  subsequent 
bolting  apparatus  and  of  all  appliances  for  purifying  and  sepa- 
rating the  various  grades  of  flour. 

The  old  Roman  system  of  cylinder  milling,  which  is  similar 
in  principle  to  an  ordinary  coffee  mill,  was  developed  in  Hun- 
gary. Elsewhere  the  system  known  as  "low  milling "  was  more 
common.  In  this  the  grain  was  ground  in  one  process  between 
two  crushers  placed  as  near  together  as  possible. 

In  the  United  States  the  flour  making  industry  was  early  de- 
veloped in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  connection  with  this  was  given 
the  first  patent  to  a  citizen  of  the  new  world  for  an  inven- 
tion (1715).  A  Philadelphia  woman  invented  the  device,  which 
was  in  its  essential  portion  a  series  of  mortars  driven  by  me- 
chanical power.  In  few  industries  has  there  been  so  much 
litigation  and  controversy  as  in  the  manufacture  of  machinery 
for  milling.  Many  patents  for  machines  with  the  same  object 
in  view  were  taken  out  almost  simultaneously.  In  the  invention 
of  all  kinds  of  milling  machines,  competition  has  been  so  brisk 
that  it  is  difficult  to  determine  questions  of  priority  and  relative 
efficiency.  New  York  city  and  Philadelphia  had  good  bolting 
facilities  even  before  1698,  but  such  facilities  did  not  become 
general  until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Oliver 
Evans  (Philadelphia,  1756-1819)  invented  the  elevator,  con- 
veyor, drill,  descender  and  hopper-bag,  from  which  "dates  the 
long  period  of  so-called  '  American '  milling,  which  produced 
flour  as  economically  and  of  as  good  a  grade  as  that  of  foreign 
millers."  There  was  little  progress  from  the  days  of  Evans 


268  THE    BOOK'   OP   WHEAT 

until  the  introduction  of  the  "new*  process  about  1870.  Durin 
the  time  of  Evans,  wheat  was  cleaned  with  rolling  screens  an 
blast  fans.  About  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  smut 
ters  were  introduced,  and  a  little  later,  separators,  by  means  o 
which  a  more  thorough  system  of  wheat  cleaning  became  es 
tablished. 

"Low"  Milling.— Before  1850,  the  millstones  in  the  Unite 
States  were  run  at  a  comparatively  low  speed,  and  the  grindin 
was  slow.  By  this  date  the  milling  industry  had  assumed  sue 
commercial  importance  that  it  was  necessary  to  increase  th 
speed  of  the  stones  in  order  to  get  the  work  done.  From  185 
to  1875,  hard,  low  grinding  was  the  rule,  and  the  prime  objec 
was  to  make  the  largest  possible  percentage  of  flour  at  the  firs 
grinding.  The  change  in  process,  due  to  greater  speed,  in 
creased  the  output  and  improved  its  quality, ' '  the  outcome  bein 
a  white,  soft  flour  that  met  with  favor  in  all  he  leading  market 
of  the  world  where  American  winter  wheat  flours  were  har 
died."  By  this  process,  however,  it  was  impossible  to  get  th 
flour  entirely  free  from  contamination,  and  some  of  the  bra 
always  remained.  There  were  two  parts  to  this  old  process,  re 
ducing  the  wheat  to  flour  by  passing  it  through  a  run  of  stones 
and  bolting  the  resulting  material  in  order  to  separate  the  flou 
from  the  bran  and  other  undesirable  parts  of  the  kernel.  Th 
percentage  of  flour  obtained  by  this  single  grinding  depende 
on  four  things:  (1)  The  dress  of  the  millstone;  (2)  the  fac 
of  grinding  surface;  (3)  the  balancing  of  upper  or  runne 
stones;  and  (4)  the  speed  of  the  runner.  As  there  was  but  on 
grinding,  the  making  of  middlings  was  avoided  as  much  as  pos 
sible.  By  this  method  of  milling,  some  of  the  bran  was  pul 
verized  so  that  it  could  not  be  separated  from  the  flour.  Thi 
gave  the  flour  a  darker  color,  and  caused  it  to  gather  mor 
moisture,  which  injured  its  keeping  qualities,  especially  in  mois 
or  hot  climates. 

"High"  Milling  was  the  next  step  in  advance.  In  this  th 
speed  of  the  stones  was  again  decreased,  and  they  were  set  fa 
apart.  This  advance  was  made  possible  by  the  middlings  puri 
fier,  which  was  not  invented  in  the  United  States  much  prio 
to  1870,  although  its  principle  had  long  been  known  and  applie 
in  Europe.  It  was  a  machine  for  separating  the  dust,  fluffy  ma 
terial,  particles  of  bran,  and  the  flour,  from  the  middlings.  I 


THE   MILLING  OF   WHEAT  269 

was  now  possible  to  make  an  excellent  and  pure  flour  from 
winter  wheat,  for  the  middlings  thus  purified  were  reground  to 
superfine  flour,  which  brought  more  per  barrel  than  the  best  flour 
formerly  in  the  market.  As  an  indication  of  its  superior  grade 
it  was  called  ''patent"  flour.  The  "new"  process  consisted  of 
four  parts,  for  purifying  and  regrinding  the  middlings  were 
added  to  the  "old"  process.  In  the  first  operation  the  wheat 
was  "granulated,"  not  ground.  These  particles,  technically 
known  as  "middlings,"  were  run  through  the  middlings  puri- 
fier and  then  reground.  Being  of  great  advantage,  the  process 
was  further  developed  by  introducing  more  stages.  The  grain 
was  now  ground  very  coarsely  and  the  endeavor  was  to  make 
as  little  flour  as  possible  at  the  first  grind,  and  the  largest  pos- 
sible amount  of  middlings. 

Ever  since  the  sixteenth  century,  when  good  flour  began  to  be 
manufactured  at  the  mills,  and  bolting  had  been  introduced, 
winter  wheat  at  all  times  and  places  had  commanded  a  larger 
price  than  spring  wheat.  Spring  wheat  flour  was  usually  of  a 
dark  and  inferior  grade,  valued  considerably  below  winter  wheat 
flour.  With  the  opening  of  the  wheat  regions  of  north  central 
United  States,  however,  spring  wheat  was  produced  in  enormous 
quantities,  even  at  the  lower  price  which  was  paid  for  it,  and 
there  was  great  need  of  an  improved  process  of  milling  which 
would  produce  a  high  grade  of  flour  from  spring  wheat.  Spring 
wheat  proved  to  be  better  suited  to  grinding  by  the  continually 
improving  process  of  high  milling  than  winter  wheat,  for  being 
harder,  it  yielded  a  greater  percentage  of  middlings.  This  had 
been  its  great  disadvantage  under  the  old  processes  of  milling, 
where  the  purpose  was  to  get  flour  at  the  first  grinding,  and  not 
middlings.  All  unpurified  middlings  are  foul,  and  when  re- 
ground  they  produced  a  low  grade  of  flour.  When  the  purifier 
remedied  this  difficulty,  the  best  grade  of  flour  was  that  made 
from  the  middlings,  and  almost  at  a  single  bound  spring  wheat 
took  front  rank  as  a  flour  producer.  The  winter  wheat  flour 
now  became  second  grade  instead  of  being  the  best. 

Roller  Milling. — The  hard  quality  of  spring  wheat  and  the 
increasing  number  of  "  breaks, "  or  stages  in  the  milling  process, 
necessitated  new  improvements.  Rolls  made  of  porcelain  or  of 
chilled  iron  were  now  devised  to  take  the  place  of  the  time- 
honored  millstone.  The  "new"  process  of  high  milling  was 


270  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

first  developed  in  the  stone  mills  of  Austria  (1820-30).  With 
an  extension  of  principles,  it  became  the  Hungarian  or  gradual 
reduction  process.1  Experiments  with  roller  mills  date  from 
1820  in  Switzerland,  and  rolls  were  used  in  Hungary  in  1874, 
although  minor  experiments  date  vaguely  back  to  1861.  These 
Hungarian  rolls  were  7  inches  long,  4^  inches  in  diameter,  and 
made  from  180  to  200  revolutions  per  minute.  The  first  com- 
plete roller  mill  was  erected  at  Budapest,  and  for  years  the 
mills  of  this  city  produced  the  leading  flour  in  the  world's 
markets. 

In  the  United  States,  the  principles  of  the  gradual  reduction 
process  were  taken  from  Hungarian  millwrights,  and  rolls  were 
first  used  in  1878.  A  complete  outfit  of  roller  mill  machinery 
was  brought  to  Minneapolis  from  Hungary,  and  Americanized. 
By  1880  rolls  were  rapiipy  coming  into  use,  but  it  necessitated 
a  change  of  machinery,  and  the  change  was  stubbornly  fought 
by  the  conservative  old  burr  millers  of  this  country.  The 
spring  wheat  interests  were  large,  however,  and  it  seemed  a  use- 
less fight.  The  thousands  of  small  country  millers  held  out 
longest,  for  the  expense  of  the  change  bore  most  heavily  upon 
them.  The  larger  millers  very  successfully  adopted  the  new 
process  with  all  its  intricate  mechanical  details.  "  Patent " 
flour  had  been  fully  recognized  and  established  in  commercial 
circles  some  time  before  1876.  Spring  wheat  brought  6  cents 
a  bushel  more  in  the  market  by  1882  than  any  other  sort.  Win- 
ter wheat  formerly  sold  at  from  5  to  30  cents  a  bushel  more 
than  spring  wheat. 

The  Process  of  Milling  wheat  by  the  gradual  reduction 
methods  in  the  early  eighties  was  quite  complex.  The  grain  was 
first  passed  through  separators  until  it  was  perfectly  free  from 
foreign  matter.  It  was  then  conveyed  to  ending  stones,  made 
of  sandstone  slightly  harder  than  that,  used  for  buildings,  and 
having  the  shape  and  size  of  ordinary  millstones.  These  re- 
moved the  "  whisker "  and  fuzz  from  the  wheat,  after  which  it 
went  to  the  brush  machine — always  by  machinery.  Here  the 
clinging  dust  was  removed,  and  then  it  passed  through  a  series 
of  five  break  rollers,  each  successive  pair  being  set  a  little 
nearer  together  than  the  last.  The  flour  and  middlings  were 
1  Smith,.  Hist,  of  Milling,  Northwestern  Miller,  March  20,  1907. 


THE   MILLING  OF   WHEAT  271 

removed  between  each  breaking.  The  flour  which  was  thus  re- 
moved came  from  the  center  of  the  wheat  grain,  which  is 
softer  and  first  reduced  in  milling.  This  flour  was  so  dirty  as 
to  be  fit  for  only  a  low  grade.  The  middlings  were  purified 
from  bran,  and  then  passed  to  rollers  which  reduced  them. 
By  a  bolting  operation,  the  coarse  particles  were  now  removed, 
and  the  unreduced  portion  of  the  middlings  were  again  purified, 
then  reground  and  rebolted.  They  passed  through  eight  such 
operations.  The  residuum  of  the  last  process  passed  to  the 
bran  duster,  and  the  refuse  from  the  bran  duster  was  sold  as 
"shorts."  The  flour  from  the  middlings  was  the  "patent" 
flour.  It  required  several  hours  for  wheat  to  pass  through  the 
different  processes.  The  richest  part  of  the  endosperm,  the 
outside,  was  to  a  certain  extent  lost,  being  closely  attached  to 
the  tough  bran  coats,  or  so  contaminated  with  small  pieces  of 
bran  as  to  injure  the  color  of  the  flour,  throwing  it  into  the 
"baker's  grade." 

Revolutions  seem  to  be  continually  taking  place  in  the  milling 
industry.  After  the  process  of  milling  had  become  long  and 
complicated,  an  effort  was  made  to  shorten  it  again,  and  with 
considerable  success.  '  l  It  was  the  triumph  of  the  '  short  system ' 
over  the  long  system,  and  resulted  in  affording  every  small  mill 
owner  in  the  country  an  opportunity  to  adopt  the  roller  system 
at  an  expense  that  was  within  his  reach. ' '  The  reform  extended 
to  Great  Britain  and  the  Continent,  even  affecting  Hungarian 
methods  and  systems.  It  granted  the  small  country  miller  a 
new  lease  of  life. 

'  The  Present  Processes  of  Milling. — The  milling  of  wheat  has 
become  a  very  scientific  and  exact  business,  especially  in  the 
largest  mills.1  Prior  to  the  milling  of  flour  comes  the  selection 
of  the  wheat  to  be  ground.  The  grain  should  be  bright-colored 
and  plump.  Grain  which  is  dark-colored  from  exposure  to 
rains,  or  from  heating  in  stack  or  bin,  is  of  an  inferior  grade, 
for  the  rising  quality  of  the  gluten  has  been  impaired.  In  se- 
lecting wheat,  the  miller  does  not  rely  upon  external  appear- 
ances, however,  and  all  wheat  is  selected  by  chemical  and  bak- 
ing tests,  which  are  made  before  the  wheat  goes  to  the  mill. 

1  For  the  major  portion  of  the  data  bearing  on  this  phase  of  the 
subject  the  writer  is  indebted  to  Messrs.  James  P.  Bell  and  Prank 
W.  Emmons  of  the  Washburn-Crosby  Company  of  Minneapolis. 


272 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


The  daily  output  of  the  Minneapolis  mills  is  so  enormous  that 
^very  effort  is  made  to  maintain  uniformity  of  character  and 
aality  in  the  flour.  A  special  expert  with  several  assistants 
is  employed  for  this  purpose.  He  grinds  the  samples  of  wheat 
by  little  mills  designed  for  the  work.  In  the  selection  of  wheat, 
the  quality  of  flour  desired  must  be  borne  in  mind. 


SECTION    01?   A   LARGE    MODERN    FLOUR   MILL 


The  mixing  of  the  wheat  is  another  preliminary  process. 
This  is  the  most  recent  and  scientific  method  of  keeping  the 
different  grades  of  flour  uniform  from  year  to  year.  The  prac- 
tice seems  to  have  been  adopted  in  the  eighties,  and  it  became 
well  established  in  the  United  States  and  Europe  during  the 


THE   MILLING  OF  WHEAT  273 

early  nineties.  The  mixing  is  done  by  means  of  the  elevator 
machinery.  Each  mill  generally  has  its  own  elevators  for  stor- 
ing the  grain.  Different  bins  receive  the  different  grades  of 
wheat  from  the  cars.  The  mixing  and  other  manipulation  of 
grain  may  take  place  in  the  elevators,  or  by  a  separate  system 
of  machinery  in  the  mill  proper.  The  quality  of  wheat  varies 
so  much  with  climate  and  season  that  it  is  practically  impos- 
sible to  prevent  corresponding  variations  in  flour  without  mix- 
ing. In  our  country  much  winter  wheat  is  grown,  and  the  best 
grade  of  flour  can  be  made  from  it  only  by  mixing  it  with  the 
hard  spring  wheat.  The  spring  wheats  bear  a  higher  and  more 
uniform  percentage  of  gluten,  and  herein  lies  their  great  value 
for  mixing  purposes.  It  is  also  claimed  that  spring  wheat  flour 
is  more  regular  in  the  time  required  to  mature  in  the  bread 
dough.  These  are  the  reasons  why  spring  wheat  brings  a 
higher  price  in  the  markets. 

Three  Fundamental  Processes  are  passed  through  by  the  grain 
in  the  milling:  (1)  Cleaning;  (2)  tempering;  and  (3)  grinding 
or  milling  proper. 

CLEANING. — In  this  three  objects  are  held  in  view:  The  re- 
moval of  foreign  seeds  from  the  grain;  the  securing  of  clean 
wheat  berries  that  are  free  from  dust  and  other  adherent  for- 
eign matter;  and  the  removal  of  small  particles  of  bran  which 
would  drop  off  afterwards  and  find  their  way  into  the  flour.  A 
special  machine  has  been  designed  for  the  removal  of  each  kind 
of  foreign  seed,  such  as  that  of  other  grain  and  of  weeds.  In 
the  main,  two  different  methods  are  used  in  the  removing  from 
the  wheat  berry  all  undesirable  matter  adhering  or  attached  to 
it.  In  each  method,  machines  adapted  to  the  purpose  are 
utilized.  One  method  is  known  as  dry  cleaning,  in  which  the 
wheat  is  passed  through  scourers.  In  the  other  method,  the 
wheat  is  washed  with  water  and  subsequently  dried.  Each 
method  has  its  advantages  for  different  conditions  of  the  grain, 
but  some  millers  wash  all  wheat. 

TEMPERING  consists  of  putting  wheat  in  the  best  of  condition 
for  milling.  The  coats  of  the  berry  must  be  so  tough  that  the 
bran  flakes  out  in  one  large  piece  in  the  grinding,  and  the  in- 
terior of  the  grain  must  be  in  such  condition  as  to  give  the 
largest  yield  of  flour.  There  are  nearly  as  many  methods  of 
tempering  as  there  are  mills,  for  each  miller  uses  a  process  that 


274  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

will  yield  the  results  which  he  desires  in  the  final  milling. 
Heating  the  wheat  to  a  certain  temperature  is  a  part  of  the 
tempering  process,  and  moisture  in  some  form  is  always  applied. 
This  may  be  accomplished  by  one  or  more  applications  of  water, 
of  steam,  or  of  both  water  and  steam. 

MILLING  PROPER. — The  wheat  is  passed  between  corrugated 
steel  rolls,  each  of  which  moves  at  a  different  speed  from  its 
mate.  The  berry  is  not  crushed,  but  ruptured  and  flattened 
out,  so  that  its  interior  can  be  separated  from  the  bran  coats 
in  the  largest  pieces  possible.  As  much  of  the  interior  as  is 
thus  separated  from  the  bran  coats  is  sifted  out,  and  the  resi- 
due is  again  passed  through  steel  rolls  so  that  more  of  the 
interior  may  be  separated.  This  is  what  is  meant  by  gradual 
reduction. 

The  interior  of  the  berry  which  has  been  separated  from  the 
branny  portion  is  known  as  "middlings."  This  material  is 
now  passed  through  the  middlings  purifier,  which  removes  any 
particles  of  bran  that  may  be  present,  the  cellulose  structural 
material  of  the  interior  of  the  berry,  and  the  germ  of  the  grain. 
The  latter  would  give  the  flour  a  yellow  appearance,  and  im- 
pair its  keeping  qualities.  After  the  middlings  have  been  puri- 
fied, they  are  reground,  and  again  purified.  These  processes  are 
repeated  until  the  material  is  of  such  fineness  that  it  will  pass 
through  the  finest  silk  bolting  cloth.  The  material  is  tested  at 
every  stage  of  the  process,  and  finally  the  finished  flour  is  again 
tested  before  it  is  shipped  to  the  trade.  An  expert  can  deter- 
mine its  quality  largely  by  feel  and  color.  Only  the  largest  mills 
have  facilities  for  making  chemical  tests.  The  smaller  millers 
frequently  have  their  products  tested  at  chemical  laboratories. 

The  Bleaching  of  Flour  is  a  process  of  recent  origin,  and 
there  has  been  considerable  controversy  as  to  its  merits.  The 
most  common  method  employed  is  to  pass  air  through  an  elec- 
tric discharge  of  high  voltage  and  low  amperage.  This  results 
in  the  formation  of  oxide  of  nitrogen.  The  treated  air  is  piped 
to  an  agitator  or  spraying  machine,  through  which  the  flour  is 
passing  in  a  thin  running  stream.  The  latter  operation  requires 
from  7  to  10  seconds,  and  during  this  time  the  flour  is  aged  and 
whitened.  It  is  claimed  that  the  only  effect  upon  the  flour  is 
the  decolorization  of  its  oil.  Bleaching  gives  whiteness  only, 
and  it  does  not  enable  the  miller  to  increase  the  amount  of  Jlour, 


THE   MILLING   OF  WHEAT  275 

nor  to  change  lower  grades  into  higher  ones.1  Of  the  many 
processes  for  bleaching,  the  only  ones  having  any  industrial 
value  seem  to  be  "  based  on  the  use  of  peroxide  of  nitrogen,  pre- 
pared either  by  chemical  action  or  by  the  action  of  a  flaming 
arc  upon  atmospheric  air.""  Flour  naturally  grows  whiter  as  it 
grows  older. 

The  Dust  Collector. — The  milling  of  wheat  always  produces 
flour  dust.  The  ignition  of  these  particles  suspended  in  the  air 
caused  disastrous  explosions  in  the  Minneapolis  mills  during 
1877-78.  This  led  to  the  development  of  the  dust  collector,  the 
first  form  of  which  was  a  filtering  diaphragm.  Its  essential 
principle  is  now  the  vortical  or  rotary  air  current,  which  masses 
and  precipitates  smaller  particles  than-  the  finest  filter  could 
arrest. 

The  Grades  of  Flour  most  usually  made  are  four  in  number: 
(1)  Patent;  (2)  first  class;  (3)  second  class;  and  (4)  red  dog. 
The  feeds  comprise  the  remainder  of  the  milled  product.  The 
basis  of  flour  grading  is  mainly  its  purity,  that  is,  its  freedom 
from  the  bran  and  germ  portions  of  the  wheat  kernel.  The 
best  flour  comes  from  the  center  of  the  grain.  The  strongest 
gluten  is  nearest  to  the  outside  of  the  kernel,  but  the  outside 
can  never  be  perfectly  separated  from  the  bran.  The  degree 
of  purity  varies  with  the  different  processes  of  milling.  The 
equipment  of  the  miller,  his  special  process  of  milling,  and  the 
market  to  which  his  products  go  determine  the  number  of 
grades  of  flour  that  he  makes.  He  may  omit  some  of  these  four 
grades,  or  he  may  further  separate  them  and  make  a  larger 
number  of  grades.  Patent  flour,  for  example,  may  be  separated 
into  first  and  second  patent.  The  requirements  of  some  buyers 
are  for  a  flour  that  is  sharper  or  more  granular,  while  those  of 
other  buyers  are  for  a  flour  with  fine  soft  granulations  and  very 
white  color.  After  all  of  the  flours  have  been  collected  from 
the  various  machines  into  their  respective  grades,  they  are  con- 
veyed to  the  packing  bins,  from  the  bottom  of  which  they  are 
drawn  by  automatic  power  packers  into  packages  varying  in 
weight  from  2  to  280  pounds. 

1  Letters,  Frank  W.  Emmons,  Washburn-Crosby  Co.,  and  John 
E.  Mitchell,  Alsop  Process  Co. 

2  Sci.  Am.,   S.   61:25263    (1906). 


276  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

The  Large  Typical  Mill  of  the  Winter  Wheat  Belt.1— A  mill- 
ing plant  of  five  buildings  and  six  grain  storage  tanks  or  silos, 
having  a  storage  capacity  of  300,000  bushels  and  a  daily  mill- 
ing capacity  of  1,500  barrels,  involves  a  capital  investment  of 
about  $200,000.  The  buildings  include:  The  mill,  88  by  42 
feet,  and  five  stories  high;  the  warehouse,  98  by  42  feet,  and 
three  stories  high;  the  power  house,  68  by  72  feet,  and  25  feet 
high,  with  a  tile  smoke  stack  125  feet  high;  and  the  grain  ele- 
vator, 48  by  42  feet,  and  118  feet  high.  The  steel  tanks  or 
silos  for  storing  the  grain  are  each  30  by  60  feet.  All  of  these 
tanks  are  connected  at  the  top  with  a  gallery  for  delivering 
the  grain,  and  at  the  bottom  with  a  conveyor  belt  for  discharg- 
ing the  grain.  Four  thousand  bushels  of  grain  can  be  received 
and  discharged  per  hour.  It  is  moved  from  car  to  elevator  and 
conveyors  by  means  of  steam  shovels.  The  number  of  men  re- 
quired when  the  mill  is  running  day  and  night  consists  of  3  of- 
ficials, 5  office  employees,  and  35  other  employees. 

When  the  grain  is  received  in  the  mill,  it  is  given  one  cleaning 
over  ordinary  separators,  and  then  stored.  Before  grinding,  it 
is  given  such  additional  separations  as  may  be  required.  It 
takes  about  one  hour  to  complete  the  milling.  The  finished 
product  is  either  loaded  into  cars  or  stored  in  the  warehouse, 
and  it  is  disposed  of  to  the  local  and  foreign  trade.  The  aver- 
age amount  of  wheat  carried  is  about  200,000  bushels,  and  the 
probable  average  amount  of  flour  on  hand  is  about  10,000 
barrels.  Mills  located  at  interior  country  points  depend  largely 
for  their  supply  of  wheat  upon  the  deliveries  of  farmers  and  of 
country  grain  merchants  in  contiguous  territory.  About  5  per 
cent  of  the  capital  invested  is  devoted  to  products  other  than 
those  of  wheat.  About  $25,000  of  cash  must  be  ready  for  im- 
mediate requirements.  Five  to  10  per  cent  of  the  business  is 
done  on  credit.  The  average  expenditure  for  salaries  and 
wages  amounts  to  about  $45,000  per  year.  Approximately  5 
per  cent  of  the  original  cost  is  annually  charged  to  the  de- 
preciation of  plant  and  equipment. 

One  of  the  largest  mills  in  the  world  is  the  "A"  mill 
of  the  Pillsbury-Washburn  company  of  Minneapolis.  The  ordi- 
nary capacity  of  this  mill  is  15,000  barrels  of  flour  per  day,  but 

1  These  data  are  furnished  by  the  Kansas  Milling     Company, 
Wichita,  Kansas. 


THE   MILLING  OF   WHEAT  277 

15,500  barrels  have  been  ground.  The  company  is  now  expend- 
ing $500,000  in  enlarging  the  plant  so  that  it  will  have  a  capa- 
city of  17,000  barrels.  The  maximum  milling  capacity  of  the 
Minneapolis  mills  aggregates  a  total  of  82,765  barrels  daily,  and 
this  is  to  be  increased  to  over  90,000  barrels  before  the  close 
of  1907.  The  great  progress  of  the  industry  is  best  understood 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  first  crude  mill  of  the  ancients 
could  not  produce  over  3  bushels  of  partly  ground  meal  in  one 
day.  Later,  the  Greeks  ground  from  5  to  10  bushels  of  meal 
per  day., 

The  Flour  Yield  of  Wheat. — Soft  wheat  weighing  64  pounds 
per  bushel  has  been  found  to  yield  about  80  per  cent  of  flour, 
while  that  weighing  54  pounds  yields  about  65  per  cent.  The 
heaviest  hard  wheat  yields  about  74  per  cent  of  flour,  while  the 
lightest  yields  67  per  cent.  McDougall  found  that  India  wheat 
yielded  from  77  to  81  per  cent  of  flour,  English  wheat  65  per 
cent  and  American  wheat  72  per  cent.  The  flour  yield  will,  of 
course,  vary  from  season  to  season,  for  it  is  dependent  upon  the 
quality  of  the  wheat.  In  1905,  it  required  4  5-6  bushels  of 
wheat  to  make  a  barrel  of  flour  in  Minneapolis,  while  in  previous 
years  it  required  only  4  1-3  bushels.  According  to  a  miller  in 
Kent,  England,  4.2  bushels  of  wheat  made  a  barrel  of  flour  in 
1876.  Two  centuries  ago  in  New  England,  it  required  between 
6  and  7  bushels.  There  has  been  a  continual  increase  in  the 
amount  of  the  highest  grade  of  flour  obtained. 

Toll. — The  first  toll  dish  was  the  hand  of  the  miller.  In 
England  in  1300,  the  toll  was  one-twentieth  of  the  wheat  ground. 
During  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  miller's  toll 
in  New  England  was  one-sixteenth  of  the  wheat  ground.  Of 
the  thirteen  original  colonies,  all  but  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania had  laws  for  regulating  tolls,  which  varied  from  one- 
fourth  to  one-sixteenth.  The  amount  of  labor  required  to  grind 
a  barrel  of  flour  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  if 
expended  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  had  a  market 
value  approximately  equal  to  the  cost  of  grinding  a  barrel  of 
flour  in  the  latter  period.  In  1891,  the  legal  toll  in  Minnesota 
was  one-eighth.  Measured  in  wheat,  this  is  twice  the  toll  which 
the  miller  received  in  New  England  200  years  ago.  In  the 
cities  and  large  towns,  however,  where  wheat  was  exchanged 
for  flour  on  a  cash  basis,  the  cost  of  a  barrel  of  flour  would 


THE   MILLING   OF   WHEAT  279 

purchase  enough  of  No.  1  hard  wheat  to  make  1.5  barrels  of 
flour.  In  some  places  in  Minnesota  only  one-eighth,  the  legal 
toll,  was  taken,  and  the  amount  taken  varied  from  this  to  one- 
third  at  Minneapolis.  It  was  stated  that  700  years  ago  the 
English  miller  with  his  small  toll  made  several  times  the  profit 
that  the  Minneapolis  mills  made  in  1891. 

Geographical  Location  and  Extent  of  Milling  Industry. — The 
first  development  of  the  milling  industry  in  the  United  States 
was  in  New  York  and  in  Pennsylvania.  These  states  exported 
flour  to  the  other  colonies  and  to  the  West  Indies.  They  long 
held  first  rank,  and  still  mill  large  quantities  of  wheat,  having 
held  fifth  and  seventh  places  respectively  among  the  flour  pro- 
ducing states  of  our  country  in  1900.  In  the  number  of  es- 
tablishments and  the  amount  of  capital  invested,  they  have 
always  held  first  rank,  at  least  until  after  the  early  nineties.  Vir- 
ginia, Ohio,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Indiana  and  Michigan  later  as- 
sumed importance  as  milling  states.  Thirty  years  ago,  the  flours 
most  sought  after  in  the  home  and  foreign  markets  were  those 
of  St.  Louis  and  the  south.  St.  Louis  was  thsn  much  the 
largest  flour-making  center  of  the  United  States.  The  im- 
provements in  milling  processes  changed  the  whole  situation, 
for  the  best  flour  was  now  made  from  spring  wheat.  In  the 
great  rush  to  obtain  Minnesota  flours,  St.  Louis  and  southern 
flours  were  for  the  time  forgotten.  The  first  Minnesota  mill 
was  erected  in  1823.  The  development  of  the  milling  industry 
in  Minneapolis  was  most  remarkable  and  rapid,  chiefly  by  rea- 
son of  the  cheap  water  power  obtainable  from  the  falls  of  the 
Mississippi  river.  Other  factors  were  the  nearness  of  the 
wheat  fields  and  the  subsequent  improvements  in  the  art  of 
milling.  Before  1860,  the  annual  output  of  the  Minneapolis 
mills. was  about  60,000  barrels.  This  increased  to  98,000  barrels 
in  1865,  193,000  in  1870,  585,000  in  1873,  and  over  1,000,000  in 
1876.  A  conflagration  then  impeded  the  industry  by  destroying 
many  mills,  and  it  was  not  until  1879  that  the  output  again  ex- 
ceeded a  million  barrels.  By  the  end  of  the  century,  the  aver- 
age annual  output  was  approximately  15,000,000  barrels. 

As  the  milling  industry  developed,  it  moved  toward  the  wheat 
fields.  From  1877  to  1888,  the  receipts  of  flour  at  Buffalo  were 
22  per  cent  of  the  receipts  of  both  wheat  and  flour,  while  from 
1889  to  1898  they  were  42  per  cent.  As  the  freight  rates  per 


280 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


hundred  pounds  were  about  the  same  for  grain  and  flour,  it 
was  comparatively  less  expensive  to  ship  flour  than  wheat,  for 
an  equal  weight  of  flour  had  the  greater  value.  This  was 
true  in  both  the  domestic  and  foreign  trade.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  has  been  maintained  that  transportation  companies  can 
ship  and  handle  wheat  more  easily  and  cheaply  than  flour,  and 
that  consequently  there  is  a  tendency  for  foreign  countries  to 
buy  our  wheat  and  manufacture  it  into  flour  themselves. 
Chicago  annually  grinds  between  four  and  five  million  bushels 
of  wheat,  which  is  about  one-seventh  of  its  total  receipts. 

The  rank  as  to  production  of  flour  in  1900  of  the  twelve  chief 
flour-producing  states  of  the  United  States  was,  in  decreasing 
order  of  importance:  Minnesota,  Ohio,  Illinois,  Indiana,  New 
York,  Missouri,  Pennsylvania,  Wisconsin,  Kansas,  Michigan, 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  In  portions  of  the  south,  it  is 
thought  that  wheat  growing  would  become  more  profitable  and 
would  increase,  if  local  flour  mills  were  established.  There 
are  some  roller  mills  in  northwestern  Georgia,  and  even  in 
central  Georgia,  but  an  increase  in  milling  capacity  would  in- 
crease the  demand  for  wheat. 

In  the  table  below  is  shown  the  flour  milling  industry  in  the 
United  States  as  given  by  the  last  census.  The  most  rapid  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  establishments  was  from  1860  to 
1870.  From  1880  to  1890  there  was  a  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  establishments  on  account  of  combinations.  From  1890 
to  1900  there  was  again  a  remarkable  increase.  The  annual 
milling  capacity  of  the  United  States  is  over  one  billion  barrels. 

(All    figures    are    in    round    millions,    except    the    number    of 
establishments,) 


1850 

1860 

1870 

1880 

1890 

1900 

11  891 

13  868 

22  573 

24  338 

18  870 

25  258 

54 

85 

152 

177 

208 

219 

9 

5 

Total  wages     

6 

9 

15 

17 

18 

18 

113 

208 

367 

442 

434 

476 

136 

249 

445 

505 

513 

561 

Milling   in   Foreign  Countries. — Excepting  for    the     United 
States,  Hungary    leads    the    world    in    the    manufacture    of 


THE  MILLING  OF  WHEAT  281 

flour.  Budapest  was  the  star  milling  city  of  the  world  until 
about  1890,  when  it  was  eclipsed  by  Minneapolis.  The  mills  of 
Hungary  have  the  best  equipment  obtainable,  and  the  wheat  is 
carefully  graded  for  milling.  Hungarian  flour  of  the  first  qual- 
ity commands  a  higher  price  in  the  English  market  than  the 
best  Minneapolis  flour.  Sometimes  it  sells  as  much  as  a  dollar 
per  barrel  higher  than  any  other  flour.  The  reason  for  this  lies 
not  so  much  in  a  superior  process  of  manufacture,  as  in  the 
fact  that  this  flour  is  the  product  of  the  very  best  wheat  ob- 
tained by  the  close  system  of  grading.  American  millers  find  it 
more  profitable  to  make  more  flour  of  a  slightly  lower  grade.  It 
may  be  that  the  difference  in  price  is  also  partly  accounted 
for  by  English  prejudice. 

The  first  roller  mills  of  Great  Britain,  dating  from 
1878,  were  said  to  be  unsuccessful.  It  was  not  until  the 
middle  eighties  that  a  respectable  body  of  roller  millers  had 
sprung  up.  It  is  estimated  that  they  numbered  400  to  500  in 
1891.  Two  years  later  there  were  664  complete  roller  plants, 
while  at  the  present  time  900  is  the  estimate.  These  mills  have 
a  daily  capacity  of  about  247,000  barrels  of  flour,  and  a  yearly 
capacity  of  61,715,000  barrels.  This  is  over  ten  million  barrels 
more  than  is  annually  consumed  in  the  Kingdom,  and  takes  no 
account  of  the  millstone  flour  production.  In  1878  there  were 
10,000  millstone  flour  mills  in  Great  Britain.  Perhaps  6,000  or 
7,000  of  these  still  exist,  but  few  of  them  grind  wheat.  There 
has  been  active  competition  between  American  and  British  mill- 
ing interests  for  the  milling  of  the  Kingdom,  with  the  advantage 
slightly  on  the  British  side  on  account  of  the  freight  discrimi- 
nations between  wheat  and  flour.  The  flour  mills  are  now  being 
built  at  the  quayside  instead  of  inland,  as  formerly.  Liverpool 
is  one  of  the  largest  milling  centers  of  the  world. 

The  modern  roller  system  has  been  in  operation  in  Russia 
nearly  30  years.  The  work  of  the  mills  along  the  Volga  and  in 
south  Russia  compares  very  favorably  with  that  of  mills  in  the 
United  States  or  Hungary.  Dampening  the  wheat  is  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  milling  process,  for  most  of  the  grain  is  ex- 
tremely dry,  and  their  softer  red  wheats  are  fully  as  hard  as 
our  hard  spring  wheat  from  the  Red  river  vally.  The  flour  is  of 
a  golden  color  and  highly  nutritious.  Their  product  seldom 


282  a?HE    BOOK    Otf    WHEAT 

reaches  the  world's  markets.  After  they  become  accustomed  to 
it,  most  persons  prefer  it  to  any  other. 

Argentine  wheat  growing  began  to  develop  in  1880,  and  be- 
fore 1895  over  300  mills  had  been  built,  an  increase  of  nearly 
100  per  cent.  The  milling  industry  was  so  overdone  that  many 
mills  went  to  ruin.  In  1901,  the  annual  producing  capacity 
of  the  Argentine  mills  was  stated  at  over  13,000,000  barrels, 
but  the  exportation  and  internal  consumption  did  not  equal 
half  of  this  amount.  It  is  especially  the  large  mills  of  the  in- 
terior that  have  had  little  to  do.  High  taxes  were  a  great  dis- 
advantage. New  mills  were,  however,  erected  in  the  ports  in 
1903.  These  mills  were  equipped  with  the  most  modern  ma- 
chinery, and  turn  out  an  excellent  product.  The  flour  yield 
averages  about  66  per  cent.  There  is  little  home  demand  for 
by-products,  and  they  are  disposed  of  chiefly  by  exportation. 
It  requires  great  economy  to  make  milling  profitable,  and  the 
industry  will  very  probably  be  confined  to  the  chief  river  and 
ocean  ports,  and  to  the  small  and  comparatively  unimportant 
local  gristmills.  On  the  whole,  milling  in  Argentina  is  pro- 
gressing slowly,  and  in  other  South  American  countries  it  is 
only  local. 

American  competition  crippled  the  Dutch  mills  in  Holland, 
but  they  are  regaining  their  trade  on  account  of  freight  dis- 
criminations. In  1902,  The  Netherlands  ranked  second  in  im- 
portance as  a  market  for  American  flour,  Great  Britain  being 
first.  Tariffs  drove  American  flour  out  of  Belgium,  but  Bel- 
gium millers  suffer  from  ruinous  competition  among  them- 
selves. In  Canada,  mill-building  is  active,  and  both  foreign 
and  domestic  trade  is  carried  on.  During  1903  flour-milling  in 
New  Zealand  and  Australia  was  temporarily  at  a  standstill  on 
account  of  crop  failures,  but  it  is  usually  an  important  in- 
dustry. Progress  in  New  Zealand  seems  to  have  been  slow  in 
this  industry  during  the  last  few  years,  apparently  on  account 
of  over-capitalization  and  over-production.  The  Chinese  and 
Japanese  have  erected  some  flour  mills,  and  they  are  ambitious 
to  do  their  own  milling,  but  success  in  this  is  no4-  yet  assured. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
THE  CONSUMPTION  OF  WHEAT. 

The  Whole  Wheat  was  used  by  the  ancients  for  food.  Pliny 
describes  "amylum,"  a  food  prepared  from  unground  wheat, 
which  was  first  soaked,  and  then  hardened  into  cakes  in  the 
sun.  At  an  early  date  in  England  whole  wheat,  known  as 
1 1  f rumity, ' '  was  used  as  food.  Here  the  grain  was  also  soaked, 
and  then  boiled  with  milk  and  sweetened.  Ordinarily  wheat  is 
no  longer  used  as  human  food  without  first  being  ground  or 
crushed.  Where  mills  are  wanting,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  in 
frontier  and  in  savage  life,  the  grain  is  often  simply  parched 
or  boiled.  The  Arabs,  for  example,  have  a  dish  known  as 
"kouskous,"  which  is  made  by  boiling  fermented  wheat. 

The  Uses  of  Different  Flours. — When  wheat  is  ground  by  the 
modern  processes  many  different  grades  of  flour  result,  not 
only  from  different  kinds  and  grades  of  wheat,  but  also  from 
the  same  grade  or  variety.  Over  50  direct  milling  products  may 
result  from  grinding  one  grade  of  wheat.  These  products 
differ  so  in  quality  that  many  of  them  are  each  most  suitable 
for  a  certain  purpose  of  consumption.  What  is  true  of  one 
grade  or  variety  of  wheat  in  this  respect  is  true  also  of  differ-' 
ent  grades  and  kinds  of  wheat,  and  the  products  differ  more 
widely  yet. 

Hard- Wheat  Flour. — Hard  wheat,  of  which  the  spring  wheat 
of  the  Red  river  valley  and  the  Turkey  red  wheat  of  Kansas  are 
excellent  examples,  produces  the  flour  that  stands  for  the 
world's  white-loaf  bread,  or  "light  bread."  This  flour  is  rich 
in  gluten,  which  readily  absorbs  a  considerable  quantity  of 
water.  As  gluten  becomes  wet,  it  swells  to  several  times  its 
dry  bulk,  and  it  grows  elastic  and  tenacious.  Gluten  is  the 
nitrogenous  or  tissue-building  part  of  the  wheat,  and  it  sup- 
plies the  same  important  food  elements  as  are  furnished  by  lean 
meat  and  the  casein  of  milk. 

Soft-Wheat  Flour. — The  flour  made  from  soft  wheat  is  the 
best  flour  for  crackers  (English  "biscuits"),  cake,  pastry,  and 
the  hot  'soda  biscuits"  so  common  in  the  southern  portion  of 

283 


284  THE    BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

the  United  States.  The  respective  uses  of  hard  and  soft-wheat 
flour  are  well  defined  and  clearly  recognized  by  bakers,  millers, 
and  wholesale  dealers.  Soft-wheat  flour  has  more  starch  and 
less  gluten  than  hard-wheat  flour.  It  makes  a  whiter,  and,  in 
a  certain  popular  estimation,  a  more  attractive  loaf,  but  it  is 
less  nutritious,  and  has  a  poorer  flavor.  Tenacity  of  gluten,  so 
essential  for  good  bread,  becomes  undesirable  " toughness"  in 
pastry  and  cake.  In  pastry,  porosity  is  rendered  unnecessary 
by  "shortening,"  and  In  cake  it  is  obtained  with  greater  deli- 
cacy by  adding  the  beaten  albumen  of  eggs.  Soft-wheat  flour, 
having  less  gluten,  is  most  suitable  for  these  products.  The 
thinly  rolled  and  thoroughly  baked  cracker  has  the  best  color, 
texture  and  crispness  when  made  from  soft-wheat  flour.  Pas- 
try and  cake  in  some  of  their  many  varied  forms  are  so  univer- 
sally a  part  of  the  daily  diet  of  America  and  Europe  that  soft- 
wheat  flour  ^  sometimes  designated  in  the  markets  as  "pastry" 
flour. 

Durum- Wheat  Flour. — The  flour  from  durum  wheats  has 
hitherto  been  used  chiefly  in  the  manufacture  of  macaroni  and 
similar  products.  Its  special  fitness  for  this  is  its  high  gluten 
content.  Bread  made  from  this  flour  has  a  fine  flavor,  but  a 
dark  color.  Because  of  the  latter  fact,  and  because  of  the 
fact  that  durum  .wheat  requires  special  milling  processes,  there 
has  been  a  prejudice  against  it  as  a  bread  wheat.  With 
great  increase  in  the  production  of  durum  wheats  in  the  Uni 
States,  these  difficulties  are  being  removed,  and  it  is  very 
probable  that  its  use  for  bread-making  will  greatly  increase. 
It  has  long  been  used  as  a  bread  wheat  in  parts  of  Russia  and 
France. 

Graham1  Flour  contains  the  whole  grain,  and  is  made  by 
cleaning  the  wheat  and  grinding  it  to  a  moderate  degree  of 
fineness.  Soft  wheat  is  the  most  suitable  for  making  this 
flour,  which,  however,  is  used  chiefly  for  bread. 

Entire- Wheat  Flour  is  prepared  by  a  process  similar  to  that 
used  in  milling  graham  flour,  only  that  between  the  cleaning 
and  grinding  it  is  run  through  a  machine  which  removes  the 
three  outer  layers  of  the  berry.  This  leaves  the  cerealin  in 
the  flour,  but  removes  the  bran.  This  also  is  a  bread  flour. 

1  So  called  from  Graham,  a  temperance  reformer  of  a  century 
ago,  who  advocated  bread  made  from  unbolted  meal  as  an  aid  in 
curing  alcoholism. 


THE  CONSUMPTION   OF  WHEAT  285 

Self -Raising  Flour  is  produced  by  mixing  leavening  agents 
with  flour,  such  as  form  the  essential  constituents  of  ordinary 
baking  powder.  The  addition  of  water  liberates  the  carbon 
dioxide,  and  a  spongy  dough  results.  Self-raising  flour  has  had 
little  commercial  importance. 

The  Comparative  Value  of  Different  Flours.— The  nourish- 
ment that  can  be  obtained  from  flour  depends  upon  its  chemical 
composition  and  digestibility.  Of  the  different  flours  that  can 
be  made  from  the  same  lot  of  wheat,  graham  flour  contains  the 
greatest  proportion  of  protein  and  phosphates.  Experiments 
have  shown,  however,  that  patent  flour  has  the  greatest  amount 
of  available  or  digestible  protein  and  other  food  elements.  More 
phosphates  are  present  in  white  bread  than  are  needed  or  ab- 
sorbed by  the  body.  The  lower  digestibility  of  graham  flour 
is  due  to  the  bran,  both  because  of  its  resistance  to  digestion, 
and  because  of  its  physiological  action.  The  lower  grades  of 
flour,  although  not  of  such  a  fine  white  color,  are  yet  highly 
nutritious,  and  yield  a  bread  that  is  quite  thoroughly  digested. 
Since  nitrogenous  foods  are  proportionately  more  expensive 
than  starchy  foods,  and  since  wheat  is  cheaper  than  lean  meat, 
all  wheat  products  are  economical  food,  and  those  containing  a 
high  percentage  of  gluten  are  especially  so. 

Commercial  Brands  or  Grades  of  Flour. — To  a  greater  or  less 
extent  each  miller  manufactures  a  flour  that,  on  account  of  the 
closeness  of  grinding,  the  proportions  of  the  different  kinds  of 
wheat,  or  for  other  causes,  is  peculiar  to  his  mill.  His  flour  is 
branded,  and  a  trade  arises  for  his  particular  brand.  As  he  has 
a  monopoly  of  this  brand,  his  business  is  largely  non-competitive. 
While  the  brands  of  flour  reduce  competition  for  the  wholesaler, 
they  increase  competition  for  the  retailer,  who  must  meet  in 
the  brands  that  he  handles  the  prices  of  all  other  brands.  The 
wholesale  baking  trade  generally  demands  a  sharp  granular 
flour  with  a  great  capacity  for  absorbing  water,  whereas  the 
household  trade  requires  a  finer  granulation  and  a  whiter  color. 
'The  foreign  trade  prefers  a  strong  granular  flour  with  little  re- 
gard to  color,  for  the  flour  bleaches  during  the  time  consumed 
in  transportation.  In  some  of  the  larger  markets,  authorized 
flour  inspectors  stamp  the  packages  with  a  brand  which  indi- 
cates the  date  of  the  inspection,  the  weight  of  the  package,  and 


286  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

the  condition  and  quality  of  the  flour.  In  St.  Louis  the  stand- 
ard grades  are,  in  descending  order  of  quality  and  whiteness, 
Patent,  Extra  Fancy,  Fancy,  Choice  and  Family.  Besides 
improving  in  color,  flour  also  yields  a  larger  loaf  as  it 
grows  older.  When  properly  stored,  the  only  loss  is  in  the 
power  of.  absorbing  water.  Flour  readily  absorbs  undesirable 
odors,  such  as  those  of  pine  wood,  kerosene,  and  smoked  meats. 

Human  Foods  Made  from  Wheat. — Not  only  does  wheat  have 
great  superiority  in  sustaining  life,  but  a  large  variety  of 
healthful,  palatable  and  attractive  foods  are  made  from  it, 
-either  wholly  or  in  part.  Breads,  pastries,  crackers,  break- 
fast foods  and  macaroni,  of  almost  endless  variety  in  composi- 
tion, form  and  appearance  are  now  found  on  table  and  market. 
Many  of  these  have  a  comparatively  recent  origin,  while  others 
of  a  more  remote  origin  have  come  into  general  use  only  in 
recent  times.  Wheat  foods  alone  do  not  furnish  proper  nutri- 
tion for  the  body,  for  an  amount  sufficient  to  supply  the 
requisite  protein  would  furnish  more  than  the  requisite  car- 
bohydrates. 

Bread  is  the  oldest  and  most  important  product  made  from 
wheat.  It  supports  life  better  than  any  other  single  food  ex- 
cept  milk,  and  it  is  the  most  staple  food  of  modern  civilization 
The  baking  of  bread  is  older  than  history.  The  prehistoric 
Swiss  Lake  Dwellers  baked  bread  as  early  as  the  Stone  Age. 
From  the  burnt  specimens  that  have  been  disinterred,  it  was 
found  that  they  did  not  use  meal,  but  that  the  grains  were 
more  or  less  crushed.  The  ancient  Egyptians  carried  the  art 
of  baking  to  a  high  perfection.  Lippert  maintains  that  the 
baking  of  leavened  bread  was  practiced  longest  by  the  Egyptian 
and  Semitic  peoples.  The  Jews,  however,  still  hold  one  feast 
in  memory  of  the  old  form  of  unleavened  bread.  The  bread 
of  the  Homeric  Greeks  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  kind  of  un- 
leavened cake  baked  in  ashes.  The  ancient  Greeks  had  at 
least  62  varieties  of  bread.  An  oven  containing  81  loaves  of 
bread  similar  to  the  bread  of  modern  times  was  found  in 
Pompeii. 

"Strong"  and  "Weak"  Bread  Flour.— The  higher  the 
gluten  content  of  flour,  the  more  water  it  will  absorb  in  the 
dough;  consequently  it  will  yield  more  bread,  and  is  known  as 
"stronger"  flour.  Baker's  bread  is  sold  according  to  its 


THE  CONSUMPTION   OF  WHEAT  28? 

weight  in  the  dough,  and  a  barrel  of  hard-wheat  flour  will 
make  several  pound  loaves  more  than  a  barrel  of  soft-wheat 
flour.  The  weight  of  the  dough  and  the  size  of  the  baked 
loaf  are  largely  determined  by  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the 
gluten.  One  hundred  pounds  of  flour  will  make  about  160 
pounds  of  dough  and  about  140  pounds  of  bread.  The  flavor 
of  the  bread  depends  to  a  great  extent  upon  the  gluten  and 
oil  of  the  flour.  These  two  compounds  give  the  desirable 
" nutty"  character  so  prominent  in  hard-wheat  bread. 

At  the  present  day,  first-class  bakers  generally  use  but  one 
grade  of  standard  flour  for  making  bread.  Every  barrel  of 
such  flour  is  numbered  at  the  mills  where  it  is  made,  and  if 
the  quality  should  happen  to  be  inferior,  a  report  is  made  to 
the  mill,  and  from  the  number  of  the  barrel  the  mill  determines 
the  date  when  the  flour  was  milled,  its  composition,  and 
whether  other  similar  complaints  have  been  made  concerning 
the  same  flour.  The  difficulty  is  thus  located  and  remedied. 
Flour  of  the  first-class  standard  grades  costs  from  10  to  25 
cents  per  barrel  more  than  other  flours  which  are  often  just 
as  good,  and  which  are  frequently  used,  although  less  reliable. 

Yeast. — The  making  of  leavened  bread  requires  the  use  of 
yeast,  a  fungous  plant.  Three  forms  of  yeast  have  been  used  in 
making  bread:  Brewer's  yeast,  which  is  that  used  by  brewers 
in  malting;  German  yeast,  also  called  dried  or  compressed 
yeast,  which  consists  of  sporules  only,  and  contains  little  mois- 
ture and  no  gas;  and  patent  yeast,  which  is  a  thin  watery 
liquid  prepared  from  an  infusion  of  malt  and  hops. 

Mechanical  Processes. — The  most  primitive  method  of  mak- 
ing bread  consisted  merely  in  soaking  the  whole  grain  in 
water,  subjecting  it  to  pressure,  and  then  drying  it  by  natural 
or  artificial  heat.  Perhaps  the  simplest  form  of  bread  and  the 
rudest  baking  of  modern  times  are  found  in  the  Australian 
il  damper. "  Dough  composed  of  flour,  salt  and  water  is  made 
into  cakes,  which  are  baked  in  the  dying  embers  of  a  wood 
fire.  There  have  been  no  great  modern  improvements  in  ma- 
chinery for  making  bread.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  it  was 
still  made  and  baked  much  as  it  was  in  ancient  Greece.  The 
sponge  was  mixed  and  the  dough  kneaded  by  machinery,  but 
as  yet  there  had  been  failure  to  make  loaves  by  machinery. 


288  THE    BOOK    OF   WHEAT 

Except  in  the  formation  of  loaves,  perhaps,  there  seem  to 
have  been  no  marked  improvements  during  the  last  25  years. 

The  Modern  Bakeshop. — The  statutes  generally  require 
bakeshops  to  be  inspected  and  kept  in  healthful  condition. 
Each  baker  contracts  by  the  year  with  a  specialist  to  keep 
insects  out  of  his  establishment.  The  specialist  visits  the 
place  at  least  once  every  three  months  whether  insects  appear 
or  not.  He  receives  a  notification  if  but  a  single  bug  appears. 
His  work  is  performed  so  thoroughly  that  it  is  exceptional  if 
a  bug  is  seen  at  all. 

The  following  description  is  of  a  representative,  moderately 
large-sized  bakeshop  which  uses  from  25  to  60  barrels  of  flour 
per  day,  and  daily  bakes  from  7,500  to  20,000  loaves  of  bread. 
Each  day  the  flour  for  the  next  day's  baking  is  sifted.  The 
sifter  consists  of  a  rotary  brush  running  over  a  sieve,  and  it 
sifts  the  flour  as  fast  as  an  attendant  empties  the  barrels, 
about  one  each  minute.  All  machinery  is  operated  by  elec- 
tricity. The  bakeshop  is  three  stories  high,  and  the  sifting  is 
done  on  the  third  floor.  The  sifted  flour  descends  to  a  bin 
under  the  ceiling  of  the  second  floor.  Under  this  bin,  and  on 
the  second  floor,  is  located  the  mixer.  It  has  a  capacity  of  four 
barrels  of  flour.  The  water,  milk,  lard,  sugar,  yeast,  malt  ex- 
tract and  salt  are  first  placed  into  the  mixer,  and  then  the 
flour  is  added.  Two  parts  of  moisture  are  used  to  one  of  flour. 
Compressed  yeast  is  used,  and  more  is  required  in  winter  than 
in  summer.  The  arms  of  the  mixer  revolve  at  a  comparatively 
slow  rate,  about  once  in  every  two  seconds,  throwing  the  dough 
from  side  to  side.  The  mixing  operation  requires  30  minutes. 
A  large  spout  extends  through  the  floor  to  the  room  below. 
As  soon  as  the  dough  is  in  proper  condition,  the  mixer  is 
turned  over,  and  the  bread  descends  through'  the  spout  to  the 
floor  below,  into  the  large  bread  trough  which  has  been  rolled 
under  the  spout.  In  this  trough  it  rises  about  three  hours. 
Thus  far  no  hand  has  touched  the  bread,  but  some  handwork 
now  becomes  necessary.  Enough  dough  is  weighed  for  12 
loaves,  which  are  then  cut  out  at  one  operation  with  an  air 
pressure  machine.  After  the  loaves  are  cut  they  are  molded 
by  being  run  through  the  molding  machine,  of  which  the 
capacity  is  theoretically  60  loaves  a  minute,  but  in  practice 
only  about  40.  The  loaf  is  molded  or  rolled  by  an  endless 


THE   CONSUMPTION   OF  WHEAT  289 

apron  underneath,  which  carries  it  along  in  a  rolling  motion, 
and  by  a  fixed  top-piece,  which  is  lined  with  sheep's  wool  in 
order  to  prevent  sticking.  The  loaf  travels  about  three  feet. 
This  is  the  Corby  patent.  After  molding,  the  bread  is  placed 
in  pans  to  rise.  The  best  temperature  for  this  is  from  70 
to  75°  F. 

The  bread  is  baked  in  a  continuous  oven  fired  by  coal.  The 
temperature  for  baking  should  be  from  450  to  550°  F.,  so  that 
the  interior  of  the  loaf  will  be  at  the  boiling  point,  212°  F. 
When  baked,  the  loaves  are  tipped  out  of  the  pans  upon  racks 
to  cool,  after  which  they  are  ready  for  sale.  It  is  by  varying 
the  proportion  of  ingredients,  the  quality  of  the  flour,  the  size 
of  the  loaf,  and  the  time  of  rising  and  baking,  that  each 
baker  produces  bread  of  a  quality  in  accord  with  his  own 
ideas.  The  amount  of  bread  produced  from  the  same  flour 
also  depends  to  a  great  extent  upon  such  variations.  Rolls  are 
cut  by  a  special  machine,  36  at  a  time.  They  are  placed  to 
rise,  after  which  they  are  shaped  by  hand.  They  rise  again, 
and  then  are  baked.  There  are  also  special  machines  for  mix- 
ing and  cutting  cake. 

Kinds  of  Bread. — Common  or  leavened  bread  needs  no  de- 
scription. Unfermented  or  unleavened  bread  is  of  two  kinds: 
That  in  which  substitutes  producing  carbonic  gas  are  used  in 
place  of  yeast,  and  that  in  which  nothing  but  flour  and  water, 
and  perhaps  salt,  are  used.  The  former,  also  known  as  a 
vesiculated  bread,  is  made  in  three  different  ways:  (1)  Car- 
bonic acid  is  developed  within  the  dough  through  fermentation 
of  the  flour;  (2)  the  dough  is  mixed  with  water  that  has  been 
previously  mixed  with  carbonic  acid;  or  (3)  carbonic  acid  is 
disengaged  from  chemicals  introduced  into  the  dough.  Mary- 
land, or  beaten  biscuit,  is  an  interesting  variety  of  unleavened 
bread.  Air  is  introduced  into  the  dough  by  means  of  folding 
or  pounding.  These  small  portions  of  air  expand  in  the  baking, 
making  a  porous  bread. 

The  original  graham  bread  was  made  from  graham  flour 
without  yeast  or  any  of  its  substitutes.  The  dough  was  left 
standing  several  hours  before  baking.  It  was  heavier  than 
ordinary  yeast  bread,  but  somewhat  porous,  probably  owing  to 
fermentation  started  by  bacteria  accidentally  present  in  the 


290 


THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 


flour   and   acquired   from  the   air.     It   was   sweet,   and  by  no 
means  unpalatable.     It  is  now  baked  like  common  bread. 

Gluten  bread  is  made  from  strong  flour  and  water.  The 
dough  is  pressed  and  strained  under  a  stream  of  water  until 
the  starch  has  been  worked  out,  when  it  is  kneaded  again  and 
baked.  It  gives  a  light  and  elastic  loaf  which  is  often  pre- 
scribed for  diabetic  patients.  Aerated  bread,  which  has  had 
considerable  popularity  in  London,  is  made  by  a  method 
invented  in  1856.  The  water  used  is  charged  with  carbon 
dioxide  gas.  Another  form  of  bread  that  has  been  made  is  the 
salt-rising  bread.  Hot  water  and  cornmeal  are  mixed  into  a 
stiff  batter,  which  is  left  at  blood  heat  until  it  is  fermented. 
The  ferments  originally  present  or  acquired  from  the  air 
produce  fermentation,  which  leavens  the  batter.  A  thick 
sponge  is  then  made  from  wheat  flour  and  warm  milk  in  which 
a  little  salt  and  sugar  have  been  dissolved.  This  sponge  and 
the  fermented  batter  are  thoroughly  kneaded  together  and  set 
in  a  warm  place  for  several  hours. 

Chemical  Changes  and  Losses  in  Baking.— Below  is  given  in 
per  cents  the  average  composition  of  white  bread  and  of  the 
flour  from  which  it  was  made. 


Water 

Protein 

Fat 

Carbohydrates 

Ash 

Bread  .. 

353 

9  2 

1  3 

Flour  

12  0 

11  4 

1  o 

1.1 

75.1 

0.5 

In  mixing  the  bread,  the  water  was  added,  the  fat  was  added 
as  butter  or  lard,  and  the  ash  was  added  as  salt.  The  protein 
and  carbohydrates  which  were  lost  went  to  nourish  the  yeast 
plant.  This  feeds  mainly  on  the  sugar  in  the  dough,  and  in  its 
growth  gives  off  alcohol  and  carbon  dioxide  gas.  The  gas  and 
the  generated  steam  expand  with  heat,  force  their  way  through 
the  dough,  and  thus  lighten  it.  Yeast  also  acts  as  an  agency  to 
turn  starch  into  sugar.  It  is  the  tenacious  quality  of  gluten 
(wanting  in  other  than  wheat  flours,  however  nutritive),  which 
retains  the  gas  in  its  tendency  to  escape.  Being  elastic,  the 
gluten  expands,  and  the  bread  becomes  porous. 

"In  bread  making  the  action  of  the  yeast  and  heat  results 
in:  (1)  The  fermentation  of  the  carbohydrates  and  the  pro- 


THE   CONSUMPTION   OF   WHEAT  291 

duction  of  carbon  dioxide  and  alcohol;  (2)  the  production  of 
soluble  carbohydrates,  as  dextrin,  from  insoluble  forms,  as 
starch";  (3)  the  production  of  lactic  and  other  acids;  (4)  the 
formation  of  other  volatile  carbon  compounds;  (5)  a  change 
in  the  solubility  of  the  proteid  compounds;  (6)  the  formation 
of  amine  and  ammonium  compounds  from  soluble  proteids  and 
(7)  the  partial  oxidation  of  the  fat.  In  addition  to  these 
changes  there  are  undoubtedly  many  others  which  take  place. 
Inasmuch  as  many  of  the  compounds  formed  during  the 
fermentation  process  are  either  gases  or  are  volatile  at  the 
temperature  of  baking,  appreciable  losses  of  dry  matter  must 
necessarily  take  place  in  bread  making.  These  losses  are 
usually  considered  as  amounting  to  about  2  per  cent  of  the 
flour  used.  In  exceptional  cases,  as  in  prolonged  fermentation, 
under  favorable  conditions,  the  losses  may  amount  to  8  per 
cent  or  more."  It  is  claimed  that  the  losses  need  not  exceed 
2  per  cent  and  that  they  may  be  reduced  to  1.1  per  cent. 
Liebig  calculated  that  in  Germany  the  yeast  plant  consumed 
as  much  food  daily  as  would  supply  400,000  persons  with 
bread. 

On  account  of  this  consumption  of  nutritive  elements  by 
yeasts,  and  on  account  of  the  uncertainty  of  their  working, 
chemical  substitutes  were  sought  50  years  ago  in  the  United 
States  and  Germany.  The  substitutes  for  yeast  are  easily  adul- 
terated, they  must  be  prepared  with  great  care  in  order  that 
they  may  not  be  inefficient  or  harmful,  and  even  when  suc^ 
cessful  the  bread  is  usually  rather  tasteless.  As  a  consequence, 
they  have  not  met  with  success.  Another  loss  occurs  when 
the  bread  is  baked.  The  carbon  dioxide  is  largely  retained  in 
the  dough,  but  the  alcohol  passes  off.  In  1858  it  was  esti- 
mated that  300,000  gallons  of  spirits  were  lost  annually  in 
London  from  baking  bread,  a  loss  of  over  a  million  dollars. 
Over  $95,000  were  spent  in  an  effort  to  devise  means  to  save 
these  fumes.  It  was  given  up,  not  on  account  of  failure  to 
secure  the  alcohol,  but  because  the  bread  baked  in  the  process 
was  dry,  unpalatable  and  unsalable. 

In  baking,  the  starch  is  rendered  soluble  by  the  heat,  the 
fermenting  growth  is  killed,  and  the  gluten  is  solidified,  so  that 
the  cavities  formed  by  the  carbonic  gas  retain  their  figure, 
>  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui,  67,  p.  11. 


THE  CONSUMPTION   OF  WHEAT  293 

The  crust  and  the  crumb  of  the  bread  differ  physically  and 
chemically.  This  is  due  to  the.  sudden  and  intense  heat  to 
which  the  crust  is  subjected.  In  the  crust  the  starch  is  rapidly 
decomposed  into  dextrine  and  maltose,  which  are  caramelized 
by  the  heat,  making  the  crust  darker  and  sweeter  than  the 
crumb.  When  bread  grows  stale,  the  moisture  passes  from 
the  damper  crumb  to  the  drier  crust,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
the  starch  undergoes  a  chemical  change.  "The  whole  ques- 
tion of  staleness  is  one  about  which  little  has  been  absolutely 
proved. ' ' 

Cost  of  Baking. — A  barrel  of  flour  will  make  nearly  300 
loaves  of  bread  as  ordinarily  baked.  A  10-cent  loaf  weighs 
about  1^4  pounds.  The  consumer  thus  pays  8  cents  a  pound 
for  bread.  A  pound  of  bread  can  be  made  from  about  three- 
quarters  pound  of  flour.  At  2  cents  per  pound  for  flour,  it  is 
estimated  that  the  cost  of  a  pound  of  bread,  exclusive  of  fuel 
and  labor,  is  about  2  cents,  which  allows  a  half  cent  for 
shortening  and  yeast.  While  the  fuel  and  labor  add  mate- 
rially to  the  cost,  these  figures  verify  the  statement  that  all 
the  combined  operations  of  raising  wheat  in  Dakota,  trans- 
porting it  to  Minneapolis,  grinding  it,  and  shipping  the  flour 
to  Boston  or  New  York  cost  less  than  to  bake  the  flour  into 
bread  and  carry  it  from  the  bakery  to  the  home. 

Macaroni  in  its  numerous  forms  is  a  palatable  and  nutritious 
food.  It  is  comparatively  inexpensive,  and  is  largely  replacing 
meat  dishes,  which  are  continually  becoming  more  costly.  In 
food  value  and  in  use  in  the  dietary,  macaroni  is  very  similar 
to  bread.  As  a  rule,  the  harder  the  wheat,  that  is,  the  more 
gluten  it  contains,  the  better  it  is  suited  to  the  manufacture 
of  macaroni.  Many  wheats  are  used,  however,  which  are  not 
real  macaroni  wheats.  The  true  varieties  are  quite  widely 
grown,  and  have  long  figured  in  commerce.  Algerian  durum 
wheats  are  exported  for  this  purpose,  and  form  a  standard 
type.  Not  a  little  macaroni  wheat  is  grown  and  used  in 
South  Argentina.  The  wild  goose  wheat  of  Canada,  rejected 
as  a  bread  wheat,  now  finds  use  as  a  macaroni  wheat,  espe- 
cially in  France.  The  Japanese  use  home-grown  wheat.  The 
metadine  wheat  of  France  is  a  half-hard  wheat  that  is  being 
largely  used,  but  with  a  mixture  of  durum  wheat.  Indian 
and  Turkish  wheats  are  often  mixed  with  such  wheat  as  the 


294  THE    BOOK    OP    WHEAT 

Algerian.  Russia  grows  some  of  the  finest  macaroni  wheats, 
chiefly  known  in  France  as  Taganrog,  because  Taganrog  is  the 
principal  point  of  export.  Some  of  the  wheats  of  Italy,  the 
native  land  of  macaroni,  are  second  to  none.  One  of  the  best 
varieties  is  Saragolla  wheat.  Even  the  common  bread  wheats 
have  been  quite  extensively  used,  especially  in  the  United 
States.  Such  wheat,  however,  does  not  produce  a  high  grade 
macaroni,  and  this  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  quality  of 
American  macaroni  has  generally  been  below  that  of  the 
imported  product.  Austria  has  also  manufactured  a  low  grade 
product  from  bread  wheats. 

The  Macaroni  Industry  had  its  birth  in  Naples,  and  before 
1875  the  Italian  product  had  not  yet  been  equaled  in  any 
other  country.  The  Neapolitan  manufacturers  gained  their 
fame  on  account  of  the  excellent  quality  of  the  native  wheat. 
The  cultivation  of  this  has  long  been  neglected.  In  the  main, 
the  spread  of  the  macaroni  industry  seems  to  have  taken  place 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  It  developed  a  great 
wheat  growing  industry  in  Algeria  and  Tunis.  "Semolina" 
or  "Semoule,"  the  coarse  flour  from  which  macaroni  is  man- 
ufactured, has  become  an  article  of  commerce  beyond  mere 
local  trade.  Not  only  has  the  macaroni  industry  developed 
greatly  in  France  and  Italy  during  recent  years,  but  also 
in  the  Levant  and  in  many  other  foreign  lands.  In  1903 
France  produced  about  330,000  pounds  of  pastes  per  day,  one- 
third  of  which  was  exported,  chiefly  to  the  United  States,  but 
also  to  Austria,  Germany  and  Belgium.  Italian  exports  go 
principally  to  the  South  American  nations,  and  to  a  limited 
extent  to  England  and  the  United  States.  In  Japan,  macaroni 
is  extensively  manufactured  and  consumed. 

In  the  United  States,  the  macaroni  industry  began  with  the 
use  of  bread  wheats.  During  1900,  it  became  established  on  a 
durum  wheat  basis  in  North  Dakota.  From  1896  to  1901, 
about  15  to  20  million  pounds  of  macaroni,  vermicelli  and 
similar  preparations  were  annually  imported  by  the  United 
States.  These  imports  amounted  to  nearly  30,000,000  pounds 
and  were  valued  at  over  $1,000,000  during  the  fiscal  year  of 
1902-3.  The  very  finest  quality  of  Italian  macaroni  is  rarely 
exported  to  America,  because  it  retains  its  quality  only  a 
few  months,  "while  the  commonly  exported  article  remains 


THE   CONSUMPTION   OF  WHEAT  295 

good  for  a  year."  The  high  quality  of  the  best  Italian 
macaroni  is  doubtless  largely  due  to  the  wheat  from  which 
it  is  made,  but  it  may  also  be  due  to  the  action  of  bacteria. 

Process  of  Manufacture  of  Macaroni — In  the  manufacture 
of  semolina,  the  wheat  is  first  cleaned,  which  includes  wash- 
ing by  water.  Sometimes  it  is  then  dried,  and  moistened  a 
second  time.  The  water  is  considered  essential  to  the  cleaning, 
and  it  also  aids  in  decortication.  Special  machinery  has  been 
devised  for  cleaning  and  dampening  the  wheat.  It  is  milled 
in  much  the  same  way  that  soft  wheat  is  ground  into  flour. 
In  the  best  quality  of  semolina  the  resultant  product  is  from 
60  to  65  per  cent  of  semolina,  from  12  to  15  per  cent  of 
flour,  and  from  18  to  20  per  cent  of  bran.  Some  of  the 
lower  grade  wheats  yield  only  from  30  to  40  per  cent  of 
semolina  of  an  inferior  quality.  The  miller's  object  is  to 
get  as  much  semolina  and  as  little  flour  as  possible.  A 
special  machine  known  as  a  "Sausseur"  is  used  in  grading 
the  products.  Semolina  is  not  flour,  but  a  much  coarser 
product.  As  a  rule,  the  manufacturers  of  macaroni  do  not 
grind  their  own  wheat,  but  obtain  their  semolina  from  millers 
of  that  product.  The  semolina  must  be  mixed  in  order  to 
maintain  a  certain  standard,  the  same  as  wheat  is  mixed 
in  order  to  obtain  a  uniform  flour.  The  product  which  goes 
into  the  macaroni  should  have  from  45  to  50  per  cent  of 
gluten^ 

Before  mechanical  methods  came  in  vogue,  macaroni  was 
kneaded  by  means  of  a  wooden  pole,  or  by  piling  up  the 
dough  and  treading  it  out  with  the  feet,  after  which  it  was 
rolled  with  a  heavy  rolling  pin.  By  having  a  fire  under  the 
vessel,  it  was  partially  baked  while  being  reduced  to  tubes 
and  strips.  "Modern  mechanical  methods  are  simply  enlarge- 
ments of  the  old  family  process  by  which  the  housewife 
mixed  flour  and  water,  kneaded  the  batch,  rolled  it  into 
sheets,  cut  it  into  strips  and  hung  it  out  to  dry.  In  the 
modern  factory  the  semolina  is  measured  into  a  steel  pan 
about  8  feet  in  diameter,  within  which  travels  a  stone  wheel.. 
Water  is  added,  the  machine  is  put  in  motion,  the  wheel 
moves  slowly  around  the  pan,  thus  kneading  the  batch  until 
it  attains  proper  consistency.  Just  ahead  of  the  wheel  is 
set  a  small  steel  plow,  to  gather  and  turn  over  the  mass, 


296  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

so  that  it  falls  under  the  rim  of  the  approaching  wheel,  thus 
guaranteeing  an  even  kneading*  of  the  whole  amount  of 
semolina  measured  out." 

There  are  also  other  mechanical  methods  of  mixing  the 
dough.  A  small  quantity  of  saffron  is  added  to  give  a  yellow 
color.  After  mixing,  the  dough  is  placed  in  a  cylinder  with 
a  perforated  bottom,  through  which  the  product  is  forced 
by  means  of  a  piston.  The  strings  of  paste  are  cut  to  the 
proper  length  as  they  issue,  and  are  then  thrown  over  reed 
poles  to  dry.  In  two  hours  they  will  dry  sufficiently  in  sun- 
light, but  if  the  weather  is  unfavorable  longer  time  is  required 
in  sheltered  terraces.  When  slightly  dry,  they  are  cellared 
in  damp  underground  vaults  for  at  least  12  hours.  By  this 
time  the  dough  is  moist  and  pliable  again,  and  the  poles 
are  carried  to  storehouses  which  are  open  on  all  sides,  but 
shaded  from  above.  Here  the  strings  hang  from  8  to  20 
days,  according  to  the  dryness  of  the  weather.  This  gives 
them  a  horn-like  toughness  which  prevents  breaking  from 
rough  handling.  In  winter,  the  drying  rooms  are  kept  at  a 
temperature  of  about  70°  F.  Thousands  of  reed  poles  bend- 
ing under  the  weight  of  the  yellow  strings  of  macaroni  cover 
the  housetops,  the  courtyards,  the  narrow  streets,  and  the 
hillsides  of  the  little  suburban  towns  about  Naples.  Mats 
spread  upon  the  ground  are  covered  with  many  kinds  of 
short-shaped  " pastas."  If  the  holes  in  the  iron  plate  through 
which  the  dough  is  forced  are  very  small,  vermicelli  is  formed. 
A  still  smaller  and  finer  sort  is  called  fedelini.  When  the  holes 
are  larger  and  have  a  conical  blade  inserted,  tube  macaroni 
is  formed.  Paste  rolled  thin  and  cut  in  various  shapes  is 
called  Italian  paste. 

In  producing  the  various  kinds  of  pastes,  there  is  a  very 
slight  difference  in  the  amount  of  water  needed.  Vermicelli 
requires  a  little  less  than  any  other  form.  To  meet  compe- 
tition and  changes  in  public  taste,  eggs  are  kneaded  into  the 
paste,  rice  flour,  corn  flour  and  potato  flour  are  introduced, 
and  the  juices  of  carrots,  turnips,  cauliflower  and  cabbage 
are  mixed  with  the  paste.  So  much  is  mixed  with  the  semolina 
that  the  macaroni  consists  of  wheat  to  the  extent  of  only 
1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  Plant  Indus.,  Bui.  20,  p.  25. 


THE   CONSUMPTION   OF   WHEAT  297 

CO  per  cent.  Our  own  homely  dish  of  "noodles"  can  be  traced 
back  to  a  macaroni  ancestry 

Crackers,  Often  Called  Biscuits  (bis  cuit,  twice  baked),  are 
a  variety  of  unleavened  bread.  They  find  their  way  to  almost 
every  table  in  the  land.  They  are  usually  made  from  soft 
wheat  flour.  "Milk,  butter,  lard,  spices,  dried  fruits — any- 
thing or  everything  desired  to  give  them  particular  consistency, 
color  or  flavor — is  mixed  with  the  flour  and  water."  The 
manufacture  of  crackers  is  a  trade  by  itself,  different  from 
ordinary  baking,  and  requiring  machinery  and  processes  peculiar 
to  itself.  As  early  as  1875,  crackers  were  made  by  a  rapid  and 
continuous  process.  Machines  mixed  the  flour  and  water, 
pressed  the  dough  into  a  sheet,  cut  it  and  even  fed  the  biscuits 
into  an  oven.  A  traveling  stage  carried  them  through  the 
oven.  The  patent  traveling  ovens  were  30  to  44  feet  long,  and 
fitted  with  endless  webs  of  plates  or  chains.  The  chains  were 
used  for  small  fancy  biscuits,  and  the  plates  for  large  and 
plain  water  biscuits.  The  rates  at  which  biscuits  of  different 
sizes  and  degrees  of  richness  traversed  the  length  of  the  oven 
in  order  to  bake  varied  from  5  to  40  minutes,  and  the  tem- 
perature of  the  oven  was  modified  to  suit  various  qualities. 
Both  the  heat  and  rate  of  motion  were  "under  easy  and  ade- 
quate" control.1  Crackers  are  rarely  made  in  the  home.  For- 
merly they  were  placed  upon  the  market  in  the  bulk,  but  the 
package  form  of  the  trade  has  increased  so  greatly  that  some 
companies  are  rapidly  doing  away  with  the  less  profitable  busi- 
ness of  selling  crackers  in  the  bulk.  About  50  different 
package  biscuits  are  placed  upon  the  market  by  one  com- 
pany. Perhaps  the  most  interesting  form  of  unleavened  breads 
is  the  Passover  bread,  which  has  been  used  during  Passover 
week  by  orthodox  Jews  from  the  time  of  Moses  until  now.  It 
is  not  unlike  the  plain  water  cracker. 

Ready-to-Eat  Wheat  Foods. — These  foods  are  also  known  as 
breakfast  foods.  Their  manufacture  dates  from  1895,  and 
seems  to  be  confined  to  the  United  States.  The  pioneer  in 
this  business  was  Henry »D.  Perky,  who  patented  "Shredded 

1  In  spite  of  many  efforts,  the  writer  was  unable  to  secure  any 
considerable  data  on  any  phase  of  the  modern  cracker  industry. 
The  business  is  largely  monopolized  by  a  few  men  not  affected  by 
the  recent  wave  of  publicity.  It  is  rumored  that  the  profits  of  the 
business  are  too  great  to  make  publicity  advisable. 


298  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

Wheat  Biscuit"  in  1895.  This  product  contains  every  portion 
of  the  wheat  kernel.  The  whole  wheat  is  cooked  without 
being  flavored,  and  then  mechanically  ground  into  filaments. 
It  is  formed  into  miniature  loaves  and  baked.  •  The  distinctive- 
ness  of  this  food  has  always  been  retained  and  has  never 
been  successfully  imitated.  It  stands  in  a  class  by  itself  and 
is  in  great  favor  with  American  consumers. 

The  great  development  of  the  breakfast  food  industry  has 
centered  at  Battle  Creek,  Michigan.  John  H.  Kellogg  patented 
"Cranose  Flakes"  in  1895.  It  consisted  of  the -whole  wheat, 
which  was  cooked,  slightly  flavored  with  salt,  rolled  into  thin 
flakes,  and  baked.  It  was  the  first  flaked  wheat  food  that 
met  with  considerable  sale.  Charles  W.  Post  began  the  man- 
ufacture of  " Grape  Nuts"  in  1896.  This  product  is  made  from 
wheat  and  barley  ground  together  into  flour,  baked  into  bread, 
toasted,  and  finally  crushed  to  granular  form.  The  food  is 
distinguished  by  its  hardness,  its  amber  color,  and  its  large 
percentage  of  dextrine.  The  products  " Malta  Vita"  and 
" Ready  Bits"  were  the  result  of  experiments  conducted  at 
Battle  Creek  in  1898.  The  former  consisted  of  cleansed  whole 
wheat  seasoned  with  salt,  and  treated  with  malt  extract  for 
the  predigestion  of  starches  before  it  was  finally  baked. 
" Force,"  brought  out  a  few  months  later,  was  manufactured 
in  a  similar  manner.  "Ready  Bits"  was  not  perfected  until 
1903.  "Its  form  is  distinctive,  consisting  of  readhering  par- 
ticles of  disintegrated  cooked  wheat,  from  which  the  excess 
starch  has  been  removed  by  the  use  of  an  enzyme."  All  of 
these  three  foods  attained  national  distribution.  By  1903  at 
least  50  undistinctive  brands  of  ready-to-serve  wheat  flakes 
were  upon  the  market,  and  nearly  all  of  them  were  made  from 
whole  wheat  cooked,  salted,  rolled  and  baked.  Their  merit 
depended  upon  the  quality  of  the  material  and  the  care  and 
skill  used  in  their  preparation.  Their  success  was  proportional 
to  the  vigor  and  intelligence  with  which  they  were  advertised. 
The  total  annual  output  of  ready-to-serve  wheat  foods  was 
estimated  to  have  a  value  of  $11,000,000. 

In  1903,  18,191  families  were  visited  in  a  house-to-house 
canvass  of  the  city  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  Seventy-six 
per  cent  were  found  to  be  users  of  ready-to-eat  cereal  foods. 
The  number  of  the  families  of  the  different  nationalities  who 


THE   CONSUMPTION   OF  WHEAT 


299 


wore  users  and  non-users  of  these  cereal  foods  appears  in  the 
table  below:1 


Nationality 

Families  Visited 

Users  of  Cereals 

Non-Users 

10,047 
1,512 
1,874 
955 
174 
20 
3,073 
491 
8 
32 
1 
3 
1 

8,697 
912 
1,466 
371 
111 
18 
1,957 
327 
1 
24 
0 
0 
0 

1,350 
600 
408 
584 
63 
2 
1,116 
164 
7 
8 
1 
3 
1 

Lrerrnan... 

Polish                              

japan 

Bohemian  

Total                   

18,191 

13,884 

4,307 

The  analysis  2  of  some  of  the  leading  ready-to-serve  wheat 
foods  indicates  the  following  average  percentages  of  constitu- 
ent substances: 


Carbo- 

Pro- 

hydrates 
(includ- 

Crude 

Water 

tein 

Fat 

ng  crude 

fiber 

Ash 

fiber) 

Cracked  and  crushed  (average  of 
11  analyses)  •  ••••• 
Flaked  (average  of  7  analyses)... 

10.1 
8.7 

11.1 
13.4 

1.7 
1.4 

75.5 
74.3 

(1.7) 
(1.8) 

1.6 
2.2 

Germ  preparations  (average  c 
10  analyses)  • 

10.4 

10.5 

2.0    . 

76.0 

(.9) 

1.1 

Gluten  preparations  (average  of 
3  analyses)  •  
Parched  and  toasted  (average  of 
6  analyses)  •  • 
Shredded  (average  of  6  analyses) 

8.9 

8.6 
8.1 

13.6 

13.6 
10.5 

1.7 

2.4 
1.4 

74.6 

74.5 
77.9 

(1.3) 

(.8) 
(1.7) 

1.2 

.9 
2.1 

Patent  flour,  high  grade,  spring 
wheat  

12.3 

11.7 

1.1 

74.5 

(.1) 

.4 

Patent  flour,  high  grade,  winter 
wheat  
Flour,  low  grade  

13.3 
12.0 

11.0 
14.0 

.9 
1.9 

74.4 
71.2 

(.3) 
(.8) 

.4 
.9 

Cereal  breakfast  foods  have  been 
geniously  advertised  than  any  other 
wildering  variety  is  upon  the  market 
an  intelligent  choice  between  them. 


more  extensively  and  in- 
class of  foods.  Such  a  be- 
that it  is  difficult  to  make 
They  are  very  convenient 


resident  of  the  Ready 

2  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farm  Bui.    105,  p. 


20. 


300  THE    BOOK    OF    WHEAT 

for  use  and  give  a  pleasant  variety  in  food.  It  is  claimed, 
however,  that  "at  the  usual  prices  the  nutrients  in  ready-to- 
eat  cereals  are  considerably  dearer  than  those  furnished  by 
bread  and  crackers. "  Where  strict  economy  is  not  essential, 
the  special  convenience  and  variety  is  often  considered  to  be 
worth  the  additional  cost. 

During  the  first  few  years  of  the  twentieth  century,  the 
most  active  competition  prevailed  between  the  numerous  com- 
panies manufacturing  ready-to-serve  breakfast  foods.  Events 
in  this  business  happened  with  kaleidoscopic  rapidity.  During 
the  years  of  1902  and  1903  there  was  an  overproduction  of 
cereal  foods  which  caused  a  protracted  glut  in  the  market. 
Many  of  the  younger  companies  were  unable  to  continue  in  the 
business,  and  failed.  The  survivors  are  now  doing  a  satisfac- 
tory business,  and  the  making  of  cereal  foods  has  settled  down 
to  a  staple  milling  industry. 

The  Natural  Food  Company,  the  present  manufacturer  of 
shredded  wheat,  has  a  conservatory  overlooking  Niagara  Falls. 
It  is  one  of  the  finest  food  factories  in  the  world.  Power  is  fur- 
nished by  electricity  from  the  Falls,  and  the  total  cost  of  the 
building  and  equipment  was  $2,000,000.  The  united  structure 
covers  an  area  of  55,653  square  feet.  It  has  5.5  acres  of  floor 
space,  and  a  frontage  of  900  feet  on  the  upper  Niagara  Rapids. 
Educational  features  have  been  established,  and  there  is  an  audi- 
torium, seating  over  1000,  for  entertainments,  lectures,  and 
conventions.  Its  food  has  been  a  great  commercial  success,  and 
is  one  of  the  best  selling  products  on  the  American  market  to- 
day. Some  of  its  products  are  also  exported. 

Grape  Nuts  is  an  unpatented  food.  The  manufacturing  com- 
pany relies  on  its  trade  marks  for  protection.  By  vigorous 
advertising  it  has  created  an  extensive  demand  for  its  goods 
in  the  United  States  and  in  some  foreign  countries. 

"From  100,000  to  125,000  one-pound  packages  are  put  up 
daily,  representing  a  daily  consumption  of  1,500,000  of  por- 
tions. In  the  manufacture  of  Postum  Food  Coffee  and  Grape 
Nuts,  about  2,200  bushels  of  wheat  are  consumed  daily.  These 
two  products  are  mostly  used  by  the  English  speaking  race,  but 
are  being  gradually  introduced  in  all  the  commercial  centers  of 
the  world.  Stocks  of  both  products  are  carried  in  all  the  prom- 
inent cities  of  the  United  States,  Canada  and  England.  Some 
625  male  and  female  employes  find  employment  throughout  dif- 


qryj 
THE  CONSUMPTION   OF  WHEAT 


. 

fn  the  United  States.     Mineraline,  one  of  its  forms,  was,  how- 

^-r7^toit  C^^^  «o£  cornstarch  or 


anixnals  are  fond  of  wheat  » 


any  form. 

1  Letter,    Postum    Cereal    Co..    Ltd. 

2  Industrial  Commission,  11:2. 


302  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

Growing  wheat  is  often  pastured  in  the  fall  or  spring.  At 
times  this  can  be  done  without  injury.  On  the  Pacific  coast  as 
much  as  10  per  cent  of  the  wheat  is  sometimes  cut  green  for 
the  purpose  of  making  wheat  hay.  This  practice  is  often  fol- 
lowed in  Oregon.  After  the  wheat  is  threshed  the  straw  is 
often  used  as  fodder  in  the  United  States,  and  also  in  other 
countries. 

Other  Uses  of  Wheat  Straw.— In  the  time  of  Fitzherbert 
wheat  straw  was  used  in  England  to  thatch  houses.  In  the  Old 
World  some  varieties  of  wheat  are  grown  solely  for  making 
hats  and  other  articles  of  plaited  straw.  It  is  also  used  for 
various  other  purposes,  such  as  packing  merchandise  and  mak- 
ing mattresses  and  door-mats.  Another  great  use  is  in  paper 
mills,  where  it  is  at  times  bought  at  $3  to  $4  p.er  ton.  Efforts 
have  been  made  in  this  manner  to  save  some  of  the  straw  that 
is  going  to  waste  at  the  rate  of  millions  of  tons  per  year  in 
North  Dakota.  The  problem  of  using  wheat  straw  economic- 
ally is  no  nearer  solution  than  it  was  20  years  ago.  In  the 
Northwest  and  on  the  Pacific  coast  it  is  often  worse  than  use- 
less, because  it  must  be  burned  to  g'et  it  out  of  the  way. 

The  Per  Capita  Consumption  of  Wheat  is  not  an  index  to 
the  bread  consumption  of  countries  where  rye  bread  is  used. 
Including  the  amount  required  for  seed,  the  estimated  per  cap- 
ita consumption  in  the  United  States  for  1902  to  1904  inclusive 
was  6.23  bushels.  The  following  estimate  of  the  per  capita 
consumption  of  wheat  in  certain  countries  was  presented  to 
the  British  Royal  Commission  on  Supply  of  Food  and  Raw 
Material  in  Time  of  War,  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Patterson  of  the  Liver- 
pool Corn  Trade  Association. 

PER    CAPITA    CONSUMPTION    OP    WHEAT 
I.    IN  IMPORTING  COUNTRIES 


Bushels 

United  Kingdom 5.6 

Germany 3.2 

Belgium 7.2 

France 7.8 

Holland 3.9 

Italy 4.4 


Bushels 

Spain 5.3 

Portugal 2.3 

Sweden 2.0 

Greece 3.3 

Austria-Hungary 3.6 

Switzerland ,....5.7 


II.    IN  EXPORTING  COUNTRIES 


Bushels 

United  States 4.7 

Canada 5.5 

Russia 2.6 

Balkan  Provinces 4.3 


Bushels 

India 0.7 

Australia 5.5 

Argentina 4.0 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
PRODUCTION  AND  MOVEMENT  OF  WHEAT 

The  United  States  Wheat  Production.— With  the  develop- 
ment of  any  agricultural  community,  farming  becomes  more 
diversified.  This  tendency  is  already  manifesting  itself  in  the 
great  wheat  regions  of  the  North  Central  States,  not  only  in 
the  diversification  of  crops  on  the  smaller  farms,  but  in  the 
rotation  of  crops  beginning  to  be  practiced  on  the  larger  farms. 
There  is  also  a  tendency  for  even  the  largest  farms  to  become 
divided  into  smaller  holdings,  and  this  will  further  increase 
the  growing  of  diversified  crops.  All  this  diversification  will 
tend  to  decrease  the  wheat  acreage  in  the  best  wheat  lands 
of  the  West.  With  the  development  of  our  whole  country,  land 
values  are  certain  to  rise.  This  is  a  factor  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, for  it  will  make  certain  lands  too  valuable  for  the 
production  of  wheat,  while  it  will  sufficiently  raise  the  price  of 
other  lands  now  lying  idle  so  that  their  cultivation  will  be- 
come profitable.  Some  wheat  will  be  grown  on  many  eastern 
and  southern  farms  which  are  not  cultivated  at  present.  With 
the  development  of  drought  resistant  varieties  of  wheat,  the 
wheat  acreage  in  the  semi-arid  regions  of  western  United 
States  will  be  increased. 

It  is  probable  that  all  of  these  developments  will  result  in 
a  reverse  in  the  historic  westward  movement  of  the  center  of 
wheat  production,  and  that  this  center  may  begin  to  retrace  its 
course  and  proceed  eastward,  for  it  is  probable  that  the  de- 
crease of  western  acreage  by  diversified  farming,  and  the  in- 
crease of  eastern  and  southern  acreage  resulting  from  the  rais- 
ing of  wheat  on  lands  formerly  abandoned,  will  more  than 
counterbalance  the  increased  acreage  in  the  semi-arid  regions. 
On  the  whole,  it  has  been  concluded  by  some  students  of  agri- 
cultural statistics  that  the  limit  of  wheat  production  in  the 
United  States  has  approximately  been  reached.  With  the  fu- 
ture growth  in  population,  and  especially  with  the  further 
development  of  mining  and  other  non-agricultural  industries, 
the  home  consumption  of  wheat  in  the  West  will  be  greatly 


304 


THE  BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


increased.  This  will  have  a  tendency  to  diminish  wheat  ex- 
ports from  western  United  States,  and  may  even  divert  to  the 
West  some  of  the  grain  from  the  Central  States  which  is  now 

ACREAGE,   PRODUCTION",  VALUE,  AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  WHEAT  OF  THE 
UNITED    STATES    IN    1905,    BY    STATES1 
(In  round  thousands.) 


State  or  Territory 

Crop  of  1905 

Stock  in 
farmers'  hands 
March  1,  1906 

Ship'd  out 
of  county 
where 
grown 

Acreage 

Production 

Value 

Maine  .             

Acres 
8 
1 
491 
.110 
1,629 
121 
810 
738 
593 
318 
305 
108 
3 
1,249 
198 
882 
356 
780 
1,883 
1,027 
1,932 
1,872 
474 
5,446 
964 
2,260 
5,536 
2,473 
3,221 
5,402 
119 
29 
254 
43 
15 
178 
27 
367 
1,322 
718 
1,886 
1,435 
270 

Bushels 
181 
27 
10.301 
1,805 
27,861 
1,670  ' 
13,197 
8,417 
3,975 
1,942 
2,107 
1,041 
28 
11,118 
1,565 
6.349 
4,373 
-      8,810 
32,198 
19,003 
35,351 
2^,952 
7,893 
72,434 
13,683 
28,022 
77,001 
48,003 
44,133 
75,623 
2,843 
748 
6,359 
948 
332 
4,710 
724 
10,342 
32,517 
13,383 
17,542 
11,764 
2,703 

Dollars 
192 
25 
8,859 
1,589 
24239 
1,369 
10,821 
7,408 
4,055 
2,156 
2,254 
1,051 
27 
9,784 
1,408 
5,777 
3.892 
7,665 
26,402 
15,013 
28,988 
24,261 
5,999 
51,428 
9,715 
22,138 
54,671 
31,682 
29,569 
52,180 
2,019 
539 
4,451 
853 
388 
3,156 
557 
6,785 
21,326 
9.100 
14,384 
8,117 
2,081 

Bushels 
58 
10 
2,472 
397 
10,030 
417 
2,903 
2,273 
1,073 
369 
485 
177 
0 
1,668 
344 
1,206 
1,268 
1,586 
9,015 
5,131 
8.131 
5,691 
2,842 
20,282 
4,242 
5,324 
13,860 
12,961 
11,033 
15,125 
995 
217 
1,526 
227 
56 
1,837 
116 
1,861 
5,203 
2,409 
1,403 
1,882 
297 

Per  cent 
32 
35 
24 
22 
36 
25 
22 
27 
27 
19 
23 
17 
0 
15 
22 
19 
29 
18 
28 
27 
23 
19 
36 
28 
31* 
19 
18 
27 
25 
20 
35 
29 
24 
24 
17 
39 
16 
18 
16 
18 
8   . 
16 
11 

Bushels 
0 
0 
1,442 
361 
2,786 
785 
8,050 
3,115 
199 
19 
63 
10 
0 
3,113 
63 
1,968 
670 
3,083 
16,421 
7,981 
16,615 
13,778 
947 
54,326 
3,421 
12,610 
57,751 
31,202 
34,865 
64,280 
768 
52 
3,815 
28 
10 
1,178 
14 
6,722 
25,038 
7,227 
10,876 
7,058 
1,351 

New  York  
New  Jersey  
Pennsylvania  
Delaware 

Maryland  :  
Virginia  .... 

North  Carolina  
South  Carolina  
Georgia  

Alabama           .    ... 

Mississippi  

Texas             

Arkansas  

Tennessee  
West  Virginia  
Kentucky  

Ohio 

Michigan  

Illinois  

Minnesota  
Iowa 

Missouri  
Kansas                .  .. 

Nebraska  
South  Dakota  
North  Dakota  
Montana              .  . 

Wyoming  

Colorado  ... 
New  Mexico  
Arizona  

Utah 

Nevada  

Idaho 

Washington  

Oregon  

Oklahoma    

Indian  Territory.... 
United  States  

47,854 

692,979 

518,373 

158,403 

22.9 

404,092 

1  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1906. 


PRODUCTION   AND   MOVEMENT 


305 


t-xported  by  way  of  Gulf  and  Atlantic  ports.  With  the  in- 
crease of  population  and  local  consumption,  the  internal  and 
export  movement  of  wheat  will  greatly  decrease,  and  Amer- 
ican wheat  will  be  a  factor  of  declining  importance  in  the 


international  grain  trade. 


VISIBLE    SUPPLY    OP    WHEAT    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    AND    CANADA, 

FIRST    OF    EACH    MONTH,    FOR    TEN  YEARS1 

(In  round  thousands  ) 


EAST  OF  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS 

PACIFIC  COAST 

Month 

1896-1897 

1905-1906 

1896-1897 

1905-1906 

July  

Bushels 
61,354 
58,414 
57,588 
63.955 
76,716 
76,433 
73,270 
68.092 
61,664 
55,946 
49.684 
37,975 

Bushels 
20.476 
21,314 
21  705 
28,894 
53  745 
62  402 
71,634 
73.151 
70.530 
66.599 
54,856 
40,347 

Bushels 
1,927 
1,917 
3,512 
5.454 
6883 
6.548 
4,189 
3,005 
1,857 
1.730 
1,614 
1,221 

Bushels 
839 
581 
1,130 
3,156 
4.486 
5.866 
5  511 
5.295 
4,898 
4.947 
3,917 
3,349 

August  

October  

November  

January  

February  
March  

April  

May 

QUANTITY   AND   PERCENTAGE   OF   DOMESTIC    WHEAT,    INCLUDING 
FLOUR,   EXPORTED  FROM  LEADING    PORTS    FOR  yEARS    ENDING    JUNE 

30,1884-1904. 2 


Customs 
District 

ANNUAL  AVERAGE 

1904 

1884-1888 

1894-1898 

Bushels 

Per  cent 

Bushels 

Per  cent 

Bushels 

Per  cent 

Atlantic  .  .  . 

82.757,000 
2,061.000 
31,865  000 
5,737,000 

122,420.000 

67  6 
1  7 
26  0 
4.7 

1000 

102.780.000 
10.843.000 
36.833,000 
9,118,000 

159,594,000 

644 
6  8 
23  1 

5.7 

100.0 

57.361  000 
33.315000 
22  334.000 
7,717,000 

120,728.000 

47  5 
27.6 
18  5 
6.4 

1000 

Gulf 

Pacific  : 

All  other 

Total  exports  .... 

1  Yearbook  U.   S.   Dept.   Agr.,    1906. 

2  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Sta.,  Bui.   38,   1905. 


PRODUCTION   AND   MOVEMENT  307 

A  feature  of  the  wheat  industry  in  the  United  States  that 
merits  special  mention  is  the  increased  production  of  durum 
wheats.  These  wheats  are  now  widely  grown  in  the  semi-arid 
regions  where  the  annual  rainfall  does  not  exceed  10  or  12 
inches.  In  the  early  years  they  were  a  product  very  difficult 
of  profitable  sale,  but  they  are  now  assuming  a  strong  com- 
mercial position.  The  nature  of  the  grain  was  not  generally 
understood  by  American  millers  until  it  had  been  on  the  mar- 
ket for  several  years.  In  Russia  it  is  blended  with  about  25 
per  cent  of  red  wheat,  and  the  same  practice  has  been  followed 
with  some  success  in  the  United  States.  Many^  mills  are  now 
grinding  the  grain.  A  large  portion  of  the  durum  wheat  grown 
in  the  United  States  is  exported,  chiefly  to  Marseilles  and 
other  ports  of  the  Mediterranean  sea.  About  10,000,000  bushels 
were  exported  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1906.  About 
2,000,000  bushels  were  produced  in  1902,  6,000,000  in  1903, 
20,000,000  in  1905,  and  50,000,000  bushels  in  1906. 

Russian  Wheat  Production. — Viewed  solely  from  the  point 
of  view  of  its  natural  resources  and  economic  aspects,  Russia 
is  the  United  States  of  Europe.  It  has  immense  undeveloped 
areas  that  would  form  ideal  wheat  lands,  lands  very  similar  to 
those  which  constitute  the  wheat  belt  of  the  United  States. 
European  Russia  may  be  divided  into  two  regions  distinct  as 
to  the  nature  of  their  soil  by  a  line  running  from  Bessarabia 
in  the  southwest  to  Ufa  in  the  northeast.  In  the  southeast  is 
the  chernozium  (black  soil)  region,  and  in  the  northwest  the 
non-chernozium  region.  Clay,  sand  and  rocky  soils  are  all  found 
in  the  non-black  soil  region,  which  lacks  fertility  and  is  chiefly 
devoted  to  the  production  of  rye.  The  black  soil  zone  is  an 
arable  plain,  vast  in  extent,  very  fertile  in  soil,  arising  through 
centuries  from  the  decomposition  of  accumulated  Steppe 
grasses  and  sheltered  by  outlying  forests.  This  plain  stretches 
across  the  empire  to  the  Ural  Mountains,  extending  completely 
over  15  provinces  and  partially  over  12,  and  even  reappearing 
in  Siberia.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  fertile  sections  of  land  on 
the  globe.  In  European  Russia,  the  18  provinces  which  lie 
chiefly  in  the  black  soil  region  produce  two-thirds  of  the  wheat 
and  only  one-third  of  the  rye.  Of  the  328,000,000  acres  of 
arable  land,  59  per  cent,  or  193,000,000  acres,  is  located  in  the 
black  soil  region.  Of  the  197,000,000  acres  of  cereal  crops,  72 


308  THE  BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

per  cent,  or  142,000,000  acres,  is  found  in  the  chernozium  area. 
The  black  soil  is  of  great  uniformity  in  type  and  composition, 
varies  in  depth  from  a  few  inches  to  about  4  feet,  and  owes  its 
dark  color  to  its  high  proportion  of  organic  substances  (4  to  16 
per  cent).  The  Russian  Steppes  have  fully  as  great  a  similar- 
ity to  the  Great  Plains  of  the  United  States  in  climate  as  in 
soil,  although  greater  extremes  prevail. 

The  similarity  between  Russia  and  the  United  States  in  the 
natural  resources  of  the  wheat  growing  regions  is  quite  equaled 
by  the  dissimilarity  in  political  practice,  social  theory  and  eco- 
nomic condition.  The  Slav  does  not  possess  the  Anglo-Saxon's 
proud  institutional  heritage.  The  Russian  proletariat  have  no 
"Uncle  Sam"  who  is  rich  enough  to  provide  farms  for  all. 
There  is,  indeed,  plenty  of  land,  and  they  do  have  the  Little 
Father,  who  is  supposed  to  exercise  a  paternal  care  over  his 
people.  Sadly  lacking  in  the  institutions  that  are  fundamental 
for  progress  and  prosperity,  however,  the  Russian  people  have 
found  the  Little  Father  to  be  far  less  capable  and  generous  in 
aiding  their  material  advancement  than  is  essential  to  its  real- 
ization. Consequently  they  have  been  unable  to  rise  above 
their  ignorance,  poverty  and  misery.  A  population  of  exuber- 
ant fertility  residing  in  a  land  of  unlimited  natural  resources, 
the  Russian  peasantry  have  had  neither  means  nor  opportunity 
to  attain  a  higher  plane  of  life.  The  poor  system  of  land  owner- 
ship and  the  antiquated  methods  of  agriculture  made  Russian 
wheat  a  dear  wheat  in  spite  of  cheap  labor  and  a  low  standard 
of  living.  The  future  possibilities  of  Russian  wheat  produc- 
tion depend  upon  the  social,  economic  and  educational  progress 
of  Russia.  There  are  symptoms  of  improvement  in  this  direc- 
tion. The  extension  of  peasant  land  ownership  is  improving 
economic  conditions.  It  seems  that  political  and  social  condi- 
tions are  at  last  changing  and  popular  education  is  growing. 
In  agriculture,  better  machinery  is  being  introduced,  and  crops 
are  being  rotated.  The  production  of  wheat  increased  122  per 
cent  in  European  Russia  from  1870  to  1904.  From  1881  to 
1904  the  acreage  in  wheat  gained  57.3  per  cent,  while  that  of 
rye  gained  only  1.7  per  cent,  and  the  ratio  between  wheat  and 
rye  changed  from  45:100  to  70:100.  The  yield  of  wheat  per 
acre  decreases  from  west  to  east, 


PRODUCTION   AND   MOVEMENT 


Since  the  construction  of  the  Great  Siberian  Railway  the 
actual  and  potential  productive  powers  of  Asiatic  Russia,  and 
especially  of  Siberia,  have  been  an  interesting  subject  for  spec- 
ulation in  Europe  and  America.  In  the  popular  conception 
previous  to  this  event,  Siberia  was  a  land  of  polar  nights  and 
eternal  snow,  the  monotony  of  whose  dreary  wastes  was  broken 
only  by  the  clanking  chains  of  Russia's  exiles — exiles  who  were 
not  always  criminals,  but  who,  according  to  Occidental  ideas, 
frequently  represented  the  very  flower  of  Russian  citizenship. 

AREA    UNDER    WHEAT    IN    THE    RUSSIAN    EMPIRE1 
(In  round  thousands ) 


Year 

To.tal 

European 
Russia 

Poland 

Northern 
Caucasia 

West 
Siberia 

Middle 
Asia 

1895  

Acres 
42,233 

Acres 
31,894 

Acres 
1,170 

Acres 
5  808 

Acres 
2  594 

Acres 
767 

1806  

45,869 

34  848 

1  198 

5  589 

2  905 

1  329 

1897 

46  733 

35  606 

1  210 

5  589 

3  021 

1  206 

1898  

47,019 

36  008 

1  221 

5,263 

3  377 

1  150 

1899  

49  743 

38  045 

1  305 

5,966 

3  179 

1  248 

1900 

52  313 

39  967 

1  318 

6  228 

3  660 

1  140 

1901  

54,306 

41,921 

1,247 

6,416 

3  537 

1  185 

1902  

55,112 

42  590 

1,301 

6,817 

2,933 

1  471 

1903 

57  221 

43  753 

1  292 

7,189 

3  455 

1  532 

1904  

59,186 

45,635 

1.242 

7,473 

3.352 

1,484 

PRODUCTION  OF  WHEAT  AND  RYE    IN  THE  RUSSIAN  EMPIRE 
(In  round  thousands.) 


Wheat 


Year 

Total 

European 
Russia 

Poland 

Caucasia 

Siberia 

Middle 
Asia 

Rye 

Bushels 

Bushels 

Bushels 

Bushels 

Bushels 

Bushels 

Bushels 

1895... 

413.341 

292.272 

17.386 

67,127 

29.093 

7  462 

801,413 

1896  

412.038 

300.423 

19.477 

45,148 

34.160 

12,830 

789,562 

1897  

340,171 

238.557 

17.808 

29.883 

42  835 

11,087 

712,319 

1898  

459,289 

334.246 

21.691 

52.251 

36  157 

14  944 

737  501 

1899  

454,145 

314,877 

21.545 

57.313 

45  473 

14.938 

911,633 

1900  

422,994 

319.193 

19,722 

56,948 

20,172 

6  959 

920  134 

1901  

427,781 

319,992 

14.409 

67  232 

16  504 

9,645 

754,927 

1902  

607,370 

463  259 

20349 

77.069 

30,796 

15,897 

919  019 

1903  

621,459 

454,598 

19  256 

77,941 

48.670 

20,995 

911,944 

1904  

666,752 

519,966 

21  241 

81,132 

31,590 

12,823 

1  .008  440 

1905 

636  285 

568  274 

20.239 

96,708 

42,411 

1006 

506*400 

450*900 

19^000 

73*000 

35,000 

i  v  uo  ......... 
1907. 

511*000 

455*000 

1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Sta.,  Bui.   42,   1906,  p.   16.. 


310  THE  BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

With  the  completion  of  the  railway,  foreign  conception  under- 
went a  great  change,  and  Siberia  suddenly  became  the  "fu- 
ture granary  of  the  world."  Subsequent  developments  have 
not  met  expectations,  for  the  true  Siberia  is  a  mean  between 
these  conceptions.  This  enormous  country,  which  is  24  times  as 
large  as  the  German  Empire,  and  nearly  twice  as  large  as  the 
United  States  proper,  has  a  very  rigorous  climate,  and  perhaps 
only  half  of  it  is  habitable,  while  a  still  smaller  portion  is 
suitable  for  agriculture.  This  still  leaves  an  immense  area, 
however,  upon  which  the  cultivation  of  wheat  is  not  only  pos- 
sible, but  probable.  Wheat  is  at  present  the  most  important 
crop  of  Siberia.  It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  foretell  the  role 
which  the  Russian  Empire  is  destined  to  play  in  the  world's 
future  wheat  production.  The  possibilities  are  tremendous. 
Since,  however,  they  are  so  largely  dependent  upon  social, 
economic  and  institutional  evolution,  it  is  very  improbable  that 
Russia  will  duplicate  the  rapid  development  of  wheat  produc- 
tion which  took  place  in  the  United  States.  While  the  develop- 
ment will  be  gradual,  it  is  probable  that  Russian  production  will 
be  one  of  the  great  permanent  factors  in  the  wheat  industry.1 

India's  Wheat  Production. — The  two  factors  which  enabled 
India  to  become  a  large  exporter  of  wheat  were  the  completion 
of  the  Suez  Canal  in  1869  and  the  subsequent  development  of 
the  railroads.  The  former  gave  an  enormous  stimulus  to 
wheat  cultivation.  Wheat  thrives  best  on  the  dry  plains  of  the 
Punjab  and  on  the  plateaus  of  the  central  provinces.  Agricul- 
tural conditiors  in  different  parts  of  India,  and  meteorological 
conditions  in  different  parts  and  in  different  seasons,  are  so 
diverse  that  the  annual  production  varies  greatly  and  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  predict.  India  wheat  as  a  factor  in  the 
world  market  is  made  still  more  uncertain  by  the  fact  that 
domestic  consumption  is  unusually  susceptible  to  variations 
resulting  from  changes  in  the  price  that  may  be  obtained  in 
the  export  markets. 

In  recent  years  the  annual  wheat  area  in  British  India  has 
been  approximately  28,000,000  acres.  About  one-fourth  of  this 
is  planted  in  the  United  Provinces,  and  about  one-fourth  in  the 
Punjab.  Of  the  remaining  wheat  area,  the  Central  Provinces 

1  Rubinow,    Russia's   Wheat   Surplus,    TJ.    S,   pept.   Agr.,    Bu.    of 
Sta..  Bui.  42.   1906, 


PRODUCTION  AND  MOVEMENT 


311 


have  annually  about  3,000,000  acres;  Central  India  and  Bom- 
bay about  2,000,000  acres  each;  Bengal  about  1,500,000  acres; 
and  Rajputana,  Hyderabad  and  the  Northwest  Frontier  Prov- 
ince each  about  1,000,000  acres.  Beror  and  Sind  are  the  only 
other  important  wheat-growing  provinces,  and  each  has  an 
annual  area  of  about  500,000  acres.  The  wheat  is  harvested 
during  our  spring  months.  The  wheat  from  the  Central  Prov- 
inces is  shipped  from  Bombay.  That  of  the  Punjab  is  collected 
at  Multan  and  shipped  from  Karachi.  There  has  also  been  a 
large  export  of  flour,  which  is  ground  at  Bombay  and  other 
centers. 

AREA,    PRODUCTION    AND    EXPORT    OF    WHEAT    IN    INDIA,    AND    THE 

GAZETTE    PRICE    OP    BRITISH    WHEAT 

(In  round  millions) 


Exports  in  following  year 

British 

Years 

in  bushels 

Gazette 

Ending 
March 

Area 

Bushels 

Price  of  wheat 
per  quarter 

31 

Total 

To  United 
Kingdom 

S              D 

1890 

24,773 

204.100 

23  866 

15,451 

31             11 

1891 

26,576 

229,200 

50,511 

23,110 

37                0 

1892 

24,482 

184  500 

24,955 

16,543 

30               3 

1893 

26,429 

239,766 

20,261 

12,381 

26                4 

1894 

25,778 

225,700 

11,483 

8,480 

22              10 

1895 

25,994 

209,310 

16673 

12,893 

23                1 

1896 

23,242 

183,698 

3,185 

2,510 

26               2 

1897 

19,024 

163,095 

3  988 

1,798 

30               2 

1898 

22  954 

222,891 

32  533 

17,790 

34               0 

1899 

23,923 

211,320 

16,173 

10,915 

25               8 

1900 

17,183 

162,323 

83 

11 

26              11 

1901 

22,922 

225  523 

12,203 

8,131 

26               9 

1902 

23,477 

202,116 

17,153 

14.823 

28                1 

1903 

23,092 

258  870 

43,185 

32,888 

26               9 

1904 

27,773 

312,916 

83.128 

.... 

1905 

283,000 

37,477 

1906 

319,600 





.... 

Argentina's  Wheat  Production. — The  wheat  industry  of  Ar- 
gentina is  similar  to  that  of  Russia  in  some  of  its  most  impor- 
tant phases.  While  the  country  is  of  much  smaller  extent,  its 
land,  climate  and  railroad  extension  are  available  potentials 
for  an  enormously  expanded  wheat  production.  As  in  Russia, 
the  wheat  area  cannnot  be  definitely  determined  without  years 
of  experimentation  and  a  great  increase  in  population.  Here, 


312  THE  BOOK   OP   WHEAT 

too,  there  are  vast  arable  plains  of  great  fertility,  a  fertility  of 
which  little  is  known  to  the  world  on  account  of  poor  methods 
of  farming  and  on  account  of  the  fact  that  much  of  the  land 
has  not  been  under  cultivation.  The  cattle  industry  was  first 
developed  in  Argentina,  and  for  many  years  it  completely  over- 
shadowed agriculture.  Thousands  and  even  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  were  owned  by  the  great  cattle  kings  who  had 
no  desire  to  have  their  land  broken  up,  because  they  knew 
nothing  of  its  agricultural  value.  Another  controlling  factor 
is  the  dependence  of  agricultural  work  upon  immigrants  and 
their  descendants.  These  immigrants  differ  greatly  in  char- 
acter from  those  found  upon  the  new  lands  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  The  great  number  of  illiterate  peddlers, 
laborers,  cobblers,  and  what-not  of  Italy,  Spain  and  Russia  do 
not  become  intelligent  farmers.  They  do  not  endeavor  to 
become  permanent  additions  to  the  population  by  securing  own- 
ership of  the  land  which  they  cultivate.  They  are  chiefly  Ital- 
ians having  a  very  low  standard  of  living  and  little  efficiency 
as  laborers.  Many  of  them  return  to  Italy  within  a  year  after 
their  coming.  According  to  the  census  of  1900,  not  one  farmer 
in  three  is  a  renter  in  the  United  States,  but  in  Argentina  two 
out  of  every  three  do  not  own  the  land  which  they  till.  Two 
systems  of  renting  are  in  vogue  in  the  latter  country,  the 
"medianero,"  or  share  system,  and  the  "arrendatario,"  or 
cash  system.  The  government  encourages  immigration  by 
offering  free  transportation  from  Europe  and  by  making  easy 
the  acquisition  of  land.  There  are  Jewish,  Russian,  Swiss,  Ger- 
man, Austrian,  Italian,  Spanish  and  Scandinavian  settlements. 
The  number  of  immigrants  averages  about  100,000  per  annum, 
and  the  number  of  emigrants  at  least  half  this  number.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  the  Argentine  wheat  farmer  will  submit  to  life 
conditions  that  would  not  be  endured  in  North  America,  for  he 
has  been  accustomed  to  hardships  in  Europe.  He  is  slow  in 
understanding  what  a  republic  means.  Class  distinctions  be- 
tween rich  and  poor  are  sharply  drawn. 

Agricultural  methods  and  conditions  are  improving,  however, 
and  Argentina  is  certain  to  assume  a  higher  rank  as  a  producer 
of  wheat  and  other  cereals.  Twenty-five  years  ago  not  enough 
wheat  was  produced  for  domestic  consumption.  During  the 


PRODUCTION  AND   MOVEMENT 


313 


last  decade  wheat  has  been  the  principal  crop,  and  approxi- 
mately 50,000,000  bushels  have  been  exported  annually.  The 
total  area  of  Argentina  is  over  a  million  English  square  miles, 
an  area  equal  to  all  of  that  portion  of  the  United  States  which 
lies  east  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  Dakotas,  Minnesota  and 
Iowa  added.  Wheat  growing  began  in  the  north  and  extended 
in  that  direction  farther  than  was  advantageous.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  there  are  at  least  60,000,000  acres  of  land  that  will 
eventually  be  producing  wheat.  One  great  advantage  is  that 


WHEAT    STATISTICS    OF    ARGENTINA 
(In  round  thousands) 


Exports 

Average 

Year 

Production 
in  bushels 

Price  in 
cents  per 
bushel  in 

Acres 

Wheat 

Flour 

Argentina 

Bushels 

Value 

Barrels 

Value 

1880 

48 

$45 

16 

$97 

1890 

12,048 

9,493 

135 

580 

1892 

39,319 

77 

17,273 

14,182 

212 

988 

1893 

59,109 

63 

37,042 

22,639 

427 

1,272 

1894 

81,129 

48 

59,092 

26,169 

458 

984 

1895 

59,164 

59 

37,121 

18,790 

607 

1,816 

1896 

46,738 

73 

19,547 

12,381 

582 

1,881 

1897 

31,594 

86 

3,742 

3  349 

466 

2,327 

1898 

49,423 

85 

7",506 

23,705 

21,586 

359 

1,537 

1899 

88,067 

58 

7,826 

62,957 

36,746 

669 

1,870 

1900 

99,075 

63 

6,793 

70,903 

46,926 

576 

1,65* 

1901 

74,752 

75 

6,045 

33,227 

25,322 

807 

2,616 

1902 

56,380 

8,893 

23,696 

17,934 

439 

1,544 

1903 

103,759 

75,000 

58,000 

810 

1904 

129,672 

84,684 

1,207 

1905 

150,745 

105,391 



1,628 



1906 

134  931 

1907 

155,'993 

the  land  can  be  worked  at  almost  any  time  of  the  year,  for  the 
climate  is  comparatively  moderate.  It  is  probable  that  the  de- 
velopment of  the  wheat  industry  in  Argentina  will  be  more 
rapid  than  in  Russia.2 

Canadian  Wheat  Production. — Canada  has  greater  possibil- 
ities of  an  immediate  and  rapid  increase  in  wheat  production 
than  any  other  country.  It  holds  this  position  of  pre-eminence 

1  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Sta.,  Bui.  27,   1904. 

2  Bicknell,  Wheat  Production  and  Farm  Life  in  Argentina,  U.  S. 
Dept.  Agra  Bu.  of  Sta.,  Bui.  27,  1904. 


314  THE  BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

by  virtue  of  its  large  area  of  fertile  land,  land  so  well  suited 
to  the  growing  of  wheat  that  the  grain  produced  is  of  a  quality 
not  generally  equaled  by  other  countries,  and  by  virtue  of  the 
intelligent  and  industrious  settlers  who  are  rapidly  taking  up 
the  unoccupied  lands.  Estimates  vary  greatly  as  to  the  actual 
wheat  area  available  in  Canada.  The  best  lands  are  located 
in  Manitoba,  Assiniboia,  Saskatchewan  and  Alberta,  It  is 
probable  that  there  are  at  least  150,000,000  acres  within  these 
limits  upon  which  wheat  could  be  profitably  grown,  an  area 
approximately  three  times  as  great  as  that  annually  sown  in 
wheat  in  the  United  States.  As  yet  there  is  not  more  than 
about  5  per  cent  of  this  land  under  cultivation,  but  over  100,- 
000,000  bushels  of  wheat  are  annually  produced.  The  hard  wheat 
of  the  Canadian  Northwest  ranks  with  the  world's  best  wheat, 
and  the  Toronto  papers  quote  it  at  a  price  about  15  cents 
above  that  of  Ontario  wheat.  In  some  years  over  half  of  the 
crop  grades  No.  1  hard,  and  it  is  greatly  desired  by  the  millers 
for  mixing  with  lower  grade  wheats  for  the  purpose  of  main- 
taining a  desirable  and  uniform  strength  of  flour.  The  yield  of 
wheat  per  acre  is  larger  in  Canada  than  in  the  United  States. 
The  average  yield  of  spring  wheat  in  Manitoba  from  1891  to 
1900  was  19  bushels.  During  the  same  period  of  time  the  yield 
in  the  Dakotas  was  about  11  bushels,  while  that  for  the  whole 
of  the  United  States  was  13.3  bushels.  The  land  of  Canada 
seems  to  be  more  productive,  the  climate  more  favorable,  and 
the  methods  of  farming  better.  About  one-fourth  of  the  coun- 
try is  capable  of  tillage. 

The  settlement  of  Canadian  lands  is  progressing  rapidly.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  immigrants  and  a  great  amount  of 
capital  come  from  the  United  States.  From  March  to  August 
of  1902,  about  25,000  emigrants  went  from  the  United  States  to 
Canada.  12,000,000  acres  of  land  have  been  settled  in  one  year. 
In  effect,  the  homestead  laws  of  Canada  are  similar  to  those  of 
the  United  States.  Transportation  facilities  are  being  rapidly 
developed  in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  increased  popu- 
lation, and  some  of  the  largest  modern  grain  elevators  are  be- 
ing constructed.  It  appears  as  if  Canada  is  destined  eventually 
to  produce  the  bulk  of  North  American  export  wheat.  The  cold 
climate  is  unfavorable  to  the  production  of  corn  and  many 


PRODUCTION   AND   MOVEMENT  315 

other  crops,  and  it  is  very  likely  that  the  growing  of  wheat  will 
be  one  of  the  great  permanent  industries  of  Canada,  especially 
as  the  population  is  so  largely  agricultural.1 

Wheat  in  the  United  Kingdom. — The  imports  of  wheat  by 
Great  Britain  are  far  greater  than  those  of  any  other  country 
and  approximate  two-fifths  of  those  of  the  world.  It  is  this 
fact  which  gives  the  United  Kingdom  its  position  of  unusual 
importance  in  the  wheat  industry.  About  the  time  of  Christ 
the  Normans  made  England  so  productive  of  "corn"  (wheat) 
that  a  large  amount  of  grain  was  exported,  and  England  was 
known  as  "The  Granary  of  the  North. "2  At  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  average  crop  of  Great  Britain  was  over 
60,000,000  bushels.  In  1852  the  wheat  acreage  was  over  3,500,- 
000  acres.  With  the  development  of  wheat  production  in  the 
United  States  and  other  countries  having  great  natural  advan- 
tages over  the  United  Kingdom,  the  price  of  wheat  declined  to 
such  a  degree  that  it  became  more  profitable  for  the  latter 
country  to  grow  other  crops  and  to  import  the  bulk  of  its 
wheat.  By  1868,  less  than  2,500,000  acres  of  wheat  were  grown 
in  Great  Britain,  and  the  acreage  continued  to  decline  for  over 
a  quarter  of  a  century.  Less  than  2,000,000  acres  of  wheat  are 
now  annually  grown,  but  the  yield  is  over  30  bushels  per 
acre.  During  the  decline  in  wheat  acreage  the  price  fell  in 
still  greater  proportion.  Wheat  imports  to  England  began 
about  1846. 

Australian  Wheat  Production. — Wheat  growing  has  not  al- 
ways been  a  profitable  industry  in  Australia.  It  has  been 
claimed  that  there  is  less  return  there  for  the  farmer's  labor 
than  in  any  other  civilized  country.  Wheat  thrives  best  on  the 
cooler  and  drier  lands  of  the  southern  part  of  Australia. 
Many  farmers,  however,  have  abandoned  wheat  raising  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  grape  vine,  which  is  a  more  profitable  crop 
in  good  seasons.  Victoria,  New  South  Wales  and  South  Aus- 
tralia are  the  chief  wheat  growing  states.  The  yield  per  acre 
is  never  large,  and  short  crops  often  result  from  severe 
droughts.  For  this  reason  Australia  is  not  a  reliable  exporter. 
The  production  of  wheat  has  been  increasing,  however,  and 

1  Saunders,    Wheat    Growing    in    Canada,   1904. 

2  Warner,  Landmarks  Eng.  Indus.  Hist.,  pp.  8-11. 


gig  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

now   averages   about   75,000,000   bushels   annually.     Wheat   is 
one  of  the  chief  crops  of  New  Zealand,  and  is  exported. 

Miscellaneous  Countries.— The  two  other  South  American 
countries  besides  Argentina  which  produce  a  surplus  of  wheat 
are  Chile  and  Uruguay.  Wheat  is  the  leading  agricultural  prod- 
uct of  Chile  which  exported  grain  to  California  and  Australia 
in  the  early  years.  Its  export  wheat  now  goes  chiefly  to  Peru, 
Ecuador  and  the  United  Kingdom.  The  exports  of  Uruguay  go 
to  Brazil  and  Europe.  Some  wheat  is  grown  in  southern  Bra- 
zil. The  production  of  wheat  in  Mexico  is  steadily  increasing, 
but  it  is  insufficient  for  domestic  needs.  The  per  capita  produc- 
tion of  wheat  in  France  is  large,  and  about  one-seventh  of  the 
agricultural  territory  is  devoted  to  this  industry.  By  reason 
of  the  liberal  encouragement  given  by  the  government,  and  on 
account  of  the  conservatism  of  the  French  peasantry,  the  area 
and  production  of  wheat  in  France  has  been  practically  uni- 
form for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Excepting  Russia, 
France  produces  more  wheat  than  any  other  European  country. 
Austria-Hungary  ranks  next,  and  then  come  Italy  and  Ger- 
many. The  latter  country  stands  next  to  England  in  wheat 
imports.  Roumania  and  the  Netherlands  each  export  over  25,- 
000,000  bushels  of  wheat  annually,  and  Belgium  exports  about 
half  of  this  amount. 

In  the  tine  of  the  Pharaohs  and  in  the  time  of  Rome's  great- 
ness, Egypt  was  the  most  important  commercial  wheat  center 
of  the  world.  It  is  estimated  that  Egypt  annually  furnished 
20,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  to  Rome.  Ancient  Mauritania  and 
Numidia,  the  present  Algeria  and  Tunis,  were  also  long  the 
granaries  of  the  Eternal  City.  Although  wheat  is  still  exported 
from  Northern  Africa,  it  does  not  form  the  principal  crop.  Most 
of  the  wheat  produced  is  of  the  durum  varieties,  and  its  chief 
commercial  use  is  for  the  manufacture  of  macaroni.  Wheat 
thrives  well  in  parts  of  southern  Africa,  and  several  million 
bushels  are  annually  produced. 

The  World  Production  and  Movement  of  Wheat. — Ever  since 
the  time  of  Malthus  there  have  been  periodical  predictions  of  a 
scarcity  of  food  supply  for  mankind.  Less  than  a  decade  ago 
Sir  William  Crookes,  President  of  the  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  predicted  that  a  serious  shortage 


PRODUCTION   AND   MOVEMENT 


317 


WHEAT   CROP    OF   COUNTRIES    NAMED,   1901-1906* 
(In  round  thousands  of  bushels.) 


Country 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

•,1905 

1906 

United  States 

748,460 

670  063 

637  822 

552  400 

692  979 

735,261 

Canada  

91,424 

100,051 

84,583 

74,834 

113,022 

131,614 

Mexico  
United  Kingdom  
Norway  

12,021 
55,581 
300 

8,477 
60,065 
265 

10,493 
50,320 
307 

9,000 
39,083 
212 

6,000 
62,188 
300 

5,000 
62,354 
300 

Sweden 

4,193 

4,757 

5  538 

5  417 

5  419 

6  227 

Denmark  
Netherlands 

942 
4,231 

4,528 
5,105 

4,461 
4  258 

4,302 
4,423 

4,500 
4,400 

4,400 
4  700 

Belgium  

14,143 

14,521 

12,350 

13,817 

13,000 

13,000 

France  

310,938 

327,841 

364,320 

298,826 

338,785 

324,725 

Spain  . 

136,905 

133  523 

128  979 

95  377 

83  605 

154  090 

Portugal  
Italy... 

10,000 
164,587 

10,400 
136,210 

8,000 
184  451 

6,500 
150,664 

5,000 
160  000 

8,000 
168  000 

Switzerland  
Germany 

4,400 
91,817 

4,200 
143,315 

4000 
130  626 

4,000 
139,803 

4,000 
135,947 

4,000 
144,754N^ 

Austria-  Hungary  
Roumania  
Bulgaria 

180,900 
72,386 
24,000 

235,022 
76,220 
35  000 

226,856 
73,700 
36  000 

204,535 
53,738 
42  000 

227,646 
100,000 
39  000 

268;574' 
113,867 
55  000 

Servia  
Turkey  in  Europe  .... 
Greece 

8,102 
22,000 
6  400 

1  1  ,409 
25,000 
7  000 

10  885 
26,000 
8  000 

11.700 
23^000 
6  000 

12,300 
20,000 
6  000 

13,211 
22,000 
8  000 

Russia  in  Europe  
Russia  in  Asia  

401,772 
61,149 

560,755 
84,718 

551,942 
110,102 

622,487 
86,412 

568,532 
107,903 

450,000    ' 
56,000 

British  India  
Algeria..  . 

264,825 
32  244 

227,380 
33  896 

2  '7,601 
34  035 

359,936 
25  484 

281,263 
20  000 

319,586    L 
28  000 

Egypt  

12,000 

12,000 

1  1  ,000 

12,000 

12,000 

12,000 

Australia 

49  877 

39  753 

12  768 

76  488 

56  215 

70  681 

New  Zealand  
North  America  . 

6,733 
851,905 

4,174 
778  591 

7,693 
732,898 

8,140 
636  234 

9,411 
812  001 

872'77L7*"  — 

South  America  
Europe  

87,417 
1,513,797 

74,625 
1.795  336 

119,013 
1  831  193 

155,185 
1  726  084 

171,445 
1  790  693 

155,337 
1,825,733    t 

Asia  

395  574 

382  122 

467  115 

518  589 

456  135 

444  786    \ 

Africa  

50,672 

52,023 

54  313 

50  003 

41  500 

46,813 

Australasia. 

56  610 

43  927 

20  461 

84  628 

65  626 

77  694 

Total  

2,955,975 

3,126,624 

3  224,993 

3,170,723 

3,337  400 

3,423,134 

in  the  supply  of  wheat  would  exist  by  1931  on  account  of  the 
increasing  population.  Such  predictions  generally  over-empha- 
size the  numerical  increase  in  population  which  is  current,  and 
fail  to  give  due  regard  to  the  laws  which  control  the  produc- 
tion of  the  food  supply  and  its  ratio  to  population.  A  scar- 
city of  wheat  simply  raises  its  price  and  increases  its  production. 
In  the  world  markets  a  sudden  and  acute  scarcity  of  the  gen- 
eral food  supply  is  impossible.  A  gradual  decrease  in  the  gen- 
eral food  supply  until  a  serious  shortage  exists  is  equally  impos- 
sible, for,  whatever  the  standard  of  living,  population  will  limit 
itself  long  before  acute  conditions  are  reached.  While  several 
countries  each  possess  many  millions  of  acres  of  the  finest  lands — 
lYearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1905-6. 


318 


THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 


THE  VISIBLE  SUPPLY  OF  WHEAT 
(In  round  thousands  of  bushels.) 


World's  visible  supply  of 
wheat,  first  of  each  month 

Year 

Stocks 
in  farmers' 

Visible  supply 
of  the  United 

Visible 
supply 

March 

hands  in 

States  and 

of  the 

Month 

1896-1897 

1905-1906 

1st 

United  States 

Canada 

world 

1892 

171,071 

68,007 

181,400 

1893 

135,205 

110,693 

229,300 

1894 

114,060 

105,863 

222,400 

July  

137,454 

114,302 

1895 

75,000 

110,546 

212,400 

August  

124,292 

106,838 

1896 

123,045 

98,834 

191,900 

September 

126,485 

113,511 

1897 

88,149 

63,521 

155,500 

October  

151,271 

138,759 

1898 

121,321 

49,445 

140,600 

November... 

190,559 

157,735 

1899 

198,056 

56,189 

151,100 

December.... 

202,329 

189,323 

1900 

158,746 

91,749 

181,500 

January  

184,616 

192,690 

1901 

128.098 

86,272 

192,700 

February  

173,496 

188,030 

1902 

1731703 

88,332 

191,900 

March  

155,533 

193,520 

1903 

164,047 

79,771 

163,700 

April  

139,049 

183,687 

1904 

132,608 

58,389 

152,000 

May  

121,491 

159,406 

1905 

111.055 

54,580 

165  400 

June  

106,912 

139,154 

1906 

158,403 

75,428 

193,520 

THE  WORLD'S  INTERNATIONAL  TRADE   IN   WHEAT  AND  FLOUR   IN 

BUSHELS, 

(In  round  thousands) 


Country 

Exports 

Imports 

1900 

1905 

1900 

1905 

Argentina.         

73.495 
14,517 
9,701 

112,718 
31,730 
18,496 

Australia 

41347 

10,800 

'64",977 
14,983 

Belgium  

Brazil  

Bulgaria 

5,140 
14,773 
422 

17,508 
47,293 
671 

Canada  



Chili  

Denmark...  . 

3,171 
3,464 
5,810 
49,246 
6,873 

5,936 
3,581 
7,347 
85,137 
5,864 

Finland  

France  

Germany  

12,464 

10,513 

Greece. 

India  (British)  

1,633 

37,477 

Italy  . 

26,941 
3,057 
44,416 
5,029 

38,744 
7,874 
70,380 
4,673 

Japan  



Netherlands  

28,488 

53,951 

Portugal  

Roumania  

27,665 
74,140 
3,641 

65,247 
181,158 
3,521 

Russia  

Servia  

*3S",sb3 
17,898 
212,089 

'26',287 
608.788 

Spain  

8,502 
14,685 
182,100 

33",075 
439,016 

Switzerland  

United  Kingdom  

9'7",6b9 
26,870 

708,393 

United  States  

215,990 
15,658 

497,727 

Other  Countries  

Total  

PRODUCTION  AND   MOVEMENT  319 

lands  that  lack  only  the  application  of  human  industry  to  make 
them  productive  of  wheat,  there  is  no  occasion  for  any  fear  of 
a  shortage  of  grain.  The  wheat  industry  of  the  world  must 
undergo  great  developments  before  even  its  approximate  limits 
can  be  defined. 

The  Northern  Hemisphere  produces  about  95  per  cent  of  the 
wheat  crop  of  the  world.  This  half  of  the  globe  not  only  con- 
sumes its  entire  product,  but  a  large  part  of  the  crop  of  the 
Southern  Hemisphere  as  well.  About  75  per  cent  of  the  total 
wheat  crop  is  produced  in  seven  countries  north  of  the  equator. 
Europe  produces  over  half  of  the  world's  wheat,  but  her  pop- 
ulation is  so  great  that  she  consumes  the  world's  surplus  in 
addition  to  her  own  product.  It  was  not  until  after  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  that  large  masses  of  trans-oceanic 
wheat  appeared  in  Europe.  In  the  seventies  of  this  century 
India  wheat  made  its  advent  into  the  world  market,  and  two 
decades  later  there  WPS  a  sudden  and  enormous  influx  of  Ar- 
gentine wheat.  The  world's  production  of  wheat  is  continually 
increasing,  and  in  1906  it  approximated  three  and  a  half  billion 
bushels. 


APPENDIX 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  WHEAT 

Following  the  classifications  of  Carleton,1  of  Haeckel,2  and 
of  Kornicke  and  Werner,  and  perfecting  them  by  adding  new 
data,  by  extending  to  smaller  subdivisions,  by  giving  world  dis- 
tribution, and,  for  the  sake  of  unity  and  completeness,  by  giv- 
ing the  essential  characteristics  of  each  division,  there  is  given 
below  a  descriptive  and  distributive  outline  of  the  division 
Hordeae  given  on  Page  2. 

1. 1     Hordeae  (Sub-tribe) . 

2 . 1     Lolieae  (Rye  Grass) . 

3  I     Leptureae. 

4-1     Elymeae  (Barley  Wild  Rye). 

5.1     Triticeae 

1.2     Agropyrum  (Genus)  (Quack.  G 
2.2     Haynaldia. 
3.2     Secale  (Rye). 
4.2     Triticum. 

1.3     Aegilops  (section).    Species    ovafn    taken    as    type.     Pound    in    southern 

Europe  to  Turkestan  in  Asia.      Twelve  species  in  all  are  recognized. 
2.3     Sitopyrus. 

1.4     Triticum  monococcum. 

1.5     Name:    None    in    English.    German    Einkorn    preferred.       French 

Engrain. 

2.5  Characteristics:  Spikelets  three  flowered  but  one  grained;  hardy; 
non-shattering :  short ,  thin  narrow-leaved  plant ,  seldom  over  3  feet 
high.  Very  constant  in  fertility;  does  not  give  fertile  cross  with 
common  wheat;  only  species  in  which  paleae  fall  in  two  parts  at 
maturity;  spikelets  awned;  spike  compact. 

3.5  Distribution:  Found  from  Achaia  in  Greece  to  Mesopotamia.  Present 
in  Swiss  Lake  dwellings  of  stone  age.  Cultivated  to  a  limited  extent 
in  Spain,  France,  Germany ;  Switzerland  and  Italy.  Unknown  in 
America  except  to  experimenters. 

4.5     Varieties:  Einkorn;  Engrain  double  (two  grains). 
5.5     Use:  Rarely  for  bread;  usually  for  mush  and  "cracked  wheat,"  and 

for  fodder. 
2.4     Triticum  Polqnicum. 

1.5     Name:  Polish  wheat   a  misnomer;  Giant  or  Jerusalem  rye.     Perhaps 

native  in  Mediterranean  region. 

2.5     Characteristics:  Only  species  in  which  lowest  flower  has  palea  as  long 
as  its  glume;  outer  glumes  at  least  as  long  as  flowering  glumes;  two 
to  three  seeded;  tall;  stems  pithy  within;  heads  and  kernels  extremely 
large;  macaroni  gluten;  drought  and.  rust  resistant;  resembles  rye. 
3.5     Distribution:  Spain;  Italy;  Abyssinia;  Southern  Russia  and  Turke- 
stan: Brazil;  Northwestern  United  States. 
4.5     Varieties:  Only  one,  White  Polish,  is  widely  known. 
5.5     Use:  Principally  for  macaroni. 
3.4     Triticum  sativum  dicoccum. 

1  5  Name:  None  in  English,  often  erroneously  called  spelt;  German 
entmer  preferred. 

i    U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Veg.  Phys.  and  Path.,  Bui.  24,  p.  6, 
»    Minn.  Bui.  62,  p.  392. 


322  THE  BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

2  5  Characteristics:  Probably  derived  from  Einkorn;  leaves  usually 
velvety  hairy;  plants  pithy  or  hollow;  heads  very  compact  and  flat 
almost  always  bearded;  threshing  does  not  remove  chaff;  spikelets 
tw9-grained;  non-shattering;  some  varieties  drought  and  rust 

35  Distribution:  Extensively  in  Russia  and  Servia;  Germany;  Spain; 
Abyssinia;  Switzerland;  to  some  extent  in  France,  and  Italy;  also 
perhaps  in  northern  India  Thibet,  and  in  portions  of  China;  in 
the  United  States ;  cultivated  in  prehistoric  times. 

4.5     Varieties:  Red  chaff;  white  chaff;  etc. 

5.5     Use:  Quite  extensively  for  human  food  in  portions  of  Russia,  Ger- 
many, Switzerland    and  Italy  as  "kaska,"  a  sort  of  porridge  from 
crushed  emmer;  grist;  "pot  barley;"  bread;  also  used  for  feed. 
4.4     Triticum  sat.  spelta. 

1.5     Name:  English,  spelt;  German,  spelz  or  dinkel;   French   epeautre. 

2.5  Characteristics:  Grows  fully  as  tall  as  wheat;  heads  loose ,  narrow , 
rather  long,  bearded  or  bald;  very  brittle  rachis;  spikelets  two  to 
five-grained;  far  apart  in  head;  hardy;  non-shattering;  constancy 
in  fertility;  retains  chaff  in  threshing. 

3.5  Distribution:  The  oldest  grain  cultivated  in  ancient  Egypt,  Greece 
and  the  Roman  Empire.  With  emmer  is  the  principal  bread  grain 
of  southwest  German  Empire;  raised  widely  in  Russia,  Switzerland, 
Belgium,  France,  Italy,  Spain.  In  Canada  and  the  United  States 
it  is  known  only  to  experimenters. 

4.5  Varieties:  Winter  and  spring  varieties  white-bearded ;  black-bearded; 
red;  smooth;  white. 

5.5     Use:  Flour  is  placed  in  same  rank  as  common  wheat  flour;  fed  to 

stock. 
5.4    Triticum  sat.  compactum. 

1.5  Name:  Club  or  square  head  wheats;  also  "hedgehog  wheat," 
"dwarf  wheat." 

2.5  Characteristics:  Little  more  than  two  feet  high,  being  a  dwarf;  heads 
very  short,  often  squarely  formed;  commonly  white,  at  times  red; 
bearded  or  bald;  spikelts  very  close,  three  or  four-grained;  grain 
short  and  small,  red  or  white;  great  yielding  power;  stiff  straw; 
non-shattering;  eary  maturity;  drought  resistant. 

3.5  Distribution:  Pacific  coast  and  Rocky  Mountain  states  of  the 
United  States;  Chile;  Turkestan;  Abyssinia;  to  slight  extent  in 
Switzerland,  Russia,  and  a  few  other  districts  of  Europe. 

4.5  Varieties:  Generally  known  as  "club"  or  "square  head";  dwarf; 
hedgehog. 

5.5     Use:  Yield  the  flour  desired  in  certain  localities;  crackers;  breakfast 

foods. 
6.4     Triticum  sat.  turgidum. 

1.5  Name:  Poulard  or  pollard  wheats;  English  (a  misnomer),  rivet; 
German,  bauchiger  Weizen;  French,  ble  petanielle\  also  known  as 
English  wheat;  Egyptian  wheat. 

2.5  Characteristics:  Rather  tall;  broad  velvety  leaves;  stems  thick  and 
stiff;  heads  long,  often  square;  bearded;  spikelets  compact,  two  to 
four-grained;  grains  hard  and  light  color;  resistant  to  rust  and 
drought. 

3.5  Distribution:  France,  Egypt,  Italy,  Turkey,  Greece,  Southern  Rus- 
sia, other  Mediterranean  and  Black  Sea  districts,  and  experimentally 
in  the  United  States. 

4.5  Varieties:  Poulard;  composite  wheats  (T.  compositum),  known  as 
Miracle,  Egyptian  or  Mummy  wheats,  having  branched  or  compound 
heads  whose  grains  develop  unequally. 

5.5     Use:  Macaroni  and  other  pastes;  bread;  mixed  with  bread  wheats 

to  produce  flour  desired  by  certain  French  markets. 
7.4     Triticum  sat.  durum. 

1.5     Name:  Durum,  macaroni,  or  flint  wheats. 

2 . 5  Characteristics :  Hardest  grain  and  longest  beard  known  among  wheats ; 
plants  tall;  leaves  smooth  with  hard  cuticle;  heads  slender,  compact, 
at  times  very  short;  always  bearded;  grains  glassy,  sometimes  rather 
transparent,  yellowish,  long;  very  sensitive  to  changes  of  environ- 
ment; high  gluten  content;  drought  and  rust  resistant;  spikelets 
two  to  four-grained. 


CLASSIFICATION    OF     WHEAT  323 

3.5     Distribution:  Practically  the  only  wheat  of  Algeria,  Spain,  Greece, 
Mexico,  and  Central  America;  extensively  raised  in  south  and  east 
Russia,  Asia  Minor,  Turkestan,  Egypt,  Tunis,  Sicily,  Italy,  India, 
Chile,  Argentina,  United  States,  and  Canada. 
4.5     Varieties: 

1.6     Gharnovka,  Velvet  Don,  and  Arnautka  (Azov  Sea  region,  Russia) 

United  States. 

2.6     Kubanka  (east  of  Volga  river,  Russia),  United  States. 
3.6     Saragolla  (southeast  Italy). 
4.6     Goose  wheat  (Canada.  Dakota). 
5.6     Trigo  candeal  and  Anchuelo  (Argentina). 
6.6     Nicaragua  (Central  America,  Texas). 
7.6     There  are  perhaps  several  dozen  other  varieties. 

5.5     Uses:  Macaroni;  semolina;  noodles;  all  kinds  of  pastries;  bread;  it  is 
coming  to  be  used  for  all  purposes,  in  some  regions,  as  ordinary 
wheat  flour. 
3.4     Triticum  vulgare. 

1.5     Name:  This  is  the  common  bread  wheat. 

2.5     Characteristics:  Well  known;  heads  rather  loosely  formed;  bearded 
or  bald;  chaff  usually  smooth   but  may  be  velvety;  spikelets  gener- 
ally three-grained,  but  may  be  two,  and  rarely  four;  stem  usually 
hollow;  all  the  characteristics  vary  widely  (see  varieties). 
3.5     Distribution:  Practically  over  the  whole  globe,  within  the  limits 

already  given  (see  varieties). 

4.5     Varieties :  (Carleton's  division ,  based  not  on  botanical  but  on  environ- 
mental characteristics) . 

1.6  Soft  winter  wheats:  Grain  amber  to  white;  produced  by  moist 
mild  climate  of  even  temperature;  found  in  eastern  United  States, 
western  and  northern  Europe,  Japan,  and  in  portions  of  China 
India,  Australia,  and  Argentina. 

2.6  Hard  winter  wheats:  Usually  red-grained;  usually  bearded ;  rela- 
tively high  gluten  content;  grown  on  black  soils  in  climate  charac- 
terized by  extremes  of  temperature  and  moisture.  Found  chiefly 
in  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  Oklahoma  in  the  United 
States  (the  wheat  of  Crimean  origin  known  as  "Turkey  red"),  in 
Argentina  (the  Italian  wheat,  Barletta),  in  Hungary  and  Rouma- 
nia,  in  southern  and  southwestern  Russia,  and  to  some  extent  in 
Canada,  northern  India,  Asiatic  Turkey,  and  Persia. 

3.6  Hard  spring  wheats:  What  has  been  said  of  the  hard  winter  wheats 
also  applies  to  this  group,  the  difference  being  that  the  growing 
season  is  shorter,  and  the  winter  too  severe  for  winter  varieties. 
They  are  found  in  central  and  western  Canada,  the  north  central 
states  of  the  United  States  (these  are  the  fife  and  blue-stem  wheats) , 
east  Russia  and  western  and  southern  Siberia. 

4.6  White  wheats:  Soft  and  very  starchy;  grains  harder  and  much 
drier  than  those  of  the  soft  winter  wheats;  fall  or  spring  sown,  even 
in  same  locality;  grown  chiefly  in  the  Pacific  coast  and  Rocky 
Mountain  states  of  the  United  States,  in  Australia,  in  Chile,  in 
Turkestan,  and  the  Caucasus. 

5.6  Early  wheats:  Grain  S9ft  or  semi-hard,  amber  to  red;  main  charac- 
teristic is  that  they  ripen  early.  Found  in  Australia  and  India, 
have  a  slight  representation  in  California,  and  include  some  of  the 
dwarf  wheats  of  Japan. 

5.5     Districts  in  the  United  States  (Carleton's  division). 
1.6     Soft  wheat. 

1.7     Present  average  yield  per  acre,  about  14f  bushels. 
2.7     Chief  varieties  grown. 

1.8     Fultz.  5.8     Jones' Winter  Fife. 

2.8     Fulcaster.  6.8     Red  Wonder. 

3.8    JJarly  Red  Clawson.  7.8     Gold  Coin. 

4.8     Longberry.  8.8     Blue  Stem. 

3.7     Needs  of  the  grower. 

1.8     Harder-grained,  more  glutinous  varieties. 

2.8     Hardier  winter  varieties  for  the  most  northern  portions. 

3.8     Early  maturity. 

4.8    Rust  resistance. 


324  THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


2.6     Semi-hard  winter  wheat. 

1.7     Present  average  yield  per  acre,  about  14  bushels. 
2.7     Chief  varieties  grown. 

1.8     Fultz.  5.8     Valley. 

2.8     Poole.  6.8     Nigger. 

3.8     Rudy.  7.8     Dawson's  Golden  Chaff 

4.8     Mediterranean.  8.8     Early  Red  Clawson. 

3.7     Needs  of  the  grower. 
1.8     Hardness  of  grain. 
2.8     Rust  resistance. 
3.8     Hardy  winter  varieties. 
3.6     Southern  wheat. 

1.7     Present  average  yield  per  acre,  about  9j  bushels. 
2.7     Chief  varieties  now  grown. 
1.8     Fultz. 
2.8     Fulcaster. 
3.8     Red  May. 
4.8     Rice. 

5.8     Everett's  High  Grade. 
6.8     Boughton. 
7.8     Currel's  Prolific 
8.8     Purple  Straw. 
3.7     Needs  of  the  grower. 
1.8     Rust  resistance. 
2.8     Early  maturity. 
3.8     Resistance  to  late  spring  frosts. 
4.8     Stiffness  of  straw. 
4.6     Hard  spring  wheat. 

1.7     Present  average  yield  per  acre,  about  13  bushels. 
2.7     Chief  varieties. 

1.8     Saskatchewan  Fife. 
2.8     Scotch  Fife. 
3.8     Power's  Fife. 
4.8     Wellman's  Fife. 
5.8     Hayne's  Blue  Stem. 
6.8     Bolton's  Blue  Stem. 
7.8     Minnesota  163. 
3.7     Needs  of  the  grower. 
1.8     Early  maturity. 
2.8     Rust  resistance. 
3.8     Drouth  resistance. 
4.8     Hardy  winter  varieties. 
5.6     Hard  winter  wheat. 

1.7     Present  average  yield  per  acre,  about  12f  bushels. 
2.7     Chief  varieties  grown. 
1.8     Turkey. 
2.8     Kharkov. 
3.8     Big  Frame. 
3.7     Needs  of  the  grower. 
1.8     Drouth  resistance. 
2.8     Hardy  winter  varieties. 
3.8     Early  maturity. 
6.6     Durum  wheat. 

1.7     Present  average  yield  per  acre,  11}  bushels. 
2.7     Chief  varieties. 
1.8     Nicaragua. 
2.8     Turkey. 
3.8     Arnautka. 
4.8     Kubanka. 


3.7     Needs  of  the  grower 
1.8     Durum  varieties. 


2.8     Drouth  resistance. 
3.8     Rust  resistance. 
4.8     Early  maturity. 
7.6     Irrigated  wheat. 

2  I     rvsfnt  a.vera^e  yield  per  acre,  about  21  bushels. 
<./     Chief  varieties. 
^    Sonora. 


CLASSIFICATION    OF     WHEAT  325 

2.8     Taos. 

3.8     Little  Club 

4.8     Defiance. 

5.8     Turkey. 
3.7     Needs  of  the  grower. 

1 .8     Increase  of  gluten  content. 

2.8     Early  maturity. 
8.6     White  wheat. 

1.7     Present  average  yield  per  acre,  about  14$  bushels. 
2.7     Chief  varieties. 

1.8     Australian. 

2.8     California  Club. 

3.8     Sonora. 

4.8     Oregon  Red  Chaff. 

5.8     Foise. 

6.8     Palouse  Blue  Stem. 

7.8     Palouse  Red  Chaff. 

8.8     White  Winter. 

9.8     Little  Club. 
3.7     Needs  of  the  grower. 

1.8     Early  maturity. 

2.8     Non-shattering  varieties. 

3.8     Hardy  winter  varieties  in  the  colder  portions. 

The  distribution  of  these  wheats  in  the  United  States  in  1900  is  shown  in 
Map  on  page  9. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

This  bibliography  contains  practically  all  of  the  works  to 
which  reference  has  been  made  in  this  volume.  In  addition 
it  contains  many  other  works  that  have  been  found  of  value. 
While  it  is  not  put  forth  as  a  complete  list  of  all  publications  on 
wheat,  it  should,  nevertheless,  serve  as  a  good  foundation  in 
all  research  work  on  this  subject,  for  it  is  a  fairly  exhaustive 
list  of  American  publications,  and  also  contains  many  foreign 
works.  An  alphabetical  list  of  all  authors  is  first  given,  in- 
cluding periodicals  containing  articles  of  which  the  author  is 
not  stated,  as  well  as  miscellaneous  official  and  unofficial  publi- 
cations. This  list  gives  opportunity  for  looking  up  tlie  works 
of  any  given  author.  For  the  purpose  of  aid  in  research,  cer- 
tain classifications  of  works  will  be  found  after  the  alphabetical 
list.  All  articles  from  encyclopedias  and  dictionaries  are 
grouped  together.  Under  each  bureau  or  division  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  are  grouped  the  publications 
of  that  bureau  or  division.  The  next  three  groups  are  those 
of  the  United  States  census,  the  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor,  and  consular  reports.  Then  follows  an  alphabetical 
list  of  the  state  experiment  stations  of  the  United  States,  with 
station  publications  listed  chronologically  under  each  state. 
The  publications  of  the  Canadian  Department  of  Agriculture 
are  also  grouped  together.  Finally,  there  is  given  a  topical  in- 
dex of  authors.  In  general,  this  index  contains  only  those 
works  which  permit  of  definite  classification,  and  it  is  arranged 
on  the  basis  of  individual  works.  Each  work  is  placed  under 
only  one  topic,  the  topic  which  it  covers  most  definitely.  The 
name  of  an  author,  however,  appears  as  many  times  under  dif- 
ferent topics  as  he  has  written  works  on  different  phases  of 
wheat.  This  topical  index,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  classi- 
fication under  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
will  facilitate  a  topical  study  of  wheat,  while  the  classification 
of  experiment  station  works  will  aid  in  a  geographical  study. 
Works  of  special  merit  are  designated  with*.  Authors  the 
whole  of  whose  publications  are  of  unusual  value  are  desig- 
nated witht.  There  are  a  few  works  that  are  inaccessible  to  the 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  327 

author,  but  should  be  contained  in  a  bibliography  of  this  na- 
ture. They  are  designated  with  §.  New  York  is  abbreviated 
N.  Yv  and  London  L. 

OUTLINE  OF  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Authors,  p.  327. 

Encyclopedias  and  dictionaries,  p.  345. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  p.  346. 
United  States  Census,  p.  350. 

United  States  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  p.  351. 
United  States  Consular  Reports,  p.  351. 
Experiment  Station  Publications,  p.  351. 
Canada  Department  of  Agriculture,  p.  353. 
Topical  Index  of  Authors,  p.  354. 

AUTHORS. 

*Adams,  Cyrus  C.     A  commercial  geography.     N.  Y.,  1902. 

Adams,  Edward  P.     The  modern   farmer   in   his  business   relations.     San   Fran- 
cisco, 1899. 
Aibini,  Giuseppi.     Consideration!  sul  valore  nutritive  del  pane  integrate,  in  Ren- 

diconto  dell'  accademia  delle  scienze  fisiche  e  matematiche,  serie  3a.-Vol. 

iv.-(Anno  xxxvii),  Naples,  1898. 

Aldrich,  W.     Future  wheat  farming.     Social  Economist,  6:224,  1894. 
Allen,  E.  W.     The  feeding   of   farm   animals.     U.   S.   Dept.   Agr.,   Farmers'  Bui. 

22,  1895. 
Subject  list  and  abstracts  of  recent  work  in  agricultural  science.     U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  Exp.  Sta.  Record,  Vol.  14,  No.  11,  1903. 
•     Some  ways  in  which  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  Experiment 

Station  supplement  each  other.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1905,  p.  167. 
Allen,  Grant.     The  pedigree  of  wheat.      Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  22:662,  1883. 
Allgemeines  Statistisches  Archiv,  Tuebingen,  2:153-206,  517-614,  1891-2;  3:217-273, 

1893,  Russlands  Bedeutung  fur  den  Weltgetreidemarkt. 
All  the  Year  Round,  L.  1:66,   1859,  Farming  by  steam. 
Andrew,  A.  P.     Influence  of  the  crops  upon  business  in  America.     Quarterly  Jour. 

of  Econ.,  20:323-53,  1906. 
Andrews,  C.  C.     Conditions  and  needs  of  spring  wheat  culture  in  the  Northwest. 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Special  Rept.  40,  1882. 
Andrews,  Frank.     Crop  export  movement  and  port  facilities  on  the  Atlantic  and 

Gulf  coasts.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Sta.,  Bui.  38,  1905. 
Annals  of  Botany,    18:321,    1904.     On  the  fertilization,  alternation,  and  general 

cytology  of  the  uredineae. 

*Ardrey,  R.  L.     American  agricultural  implements.     Chicago,  1894. 
Arnold,  A.     Mowing  and  reaping  machines.      Amer.  Cycl.  12:16,  1875. 
Atkinson,  Edw.     The  wheat  growing  capacity  of  the  United  States.     Pop.  Sci. 

Mo.,  54:145,  1898. 

Atlantic  Monthly,  Boston,  45:33,  1880.     The  bonanza  farms  of  the  West. 
Atwater,  Helen  W.     Bread    and    the    principles    of    breadmaking.     U.    S.    Dept 


Agr.,  Farmers'  Bui.  112,  1900. 
er,  W.  O. 


Atwater,  W.  O.     Organization  of  agricultural  experiment  stations  in  the  United 

States.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  1,  1889. 
Austin,  O.  P.     Commercial  Russia  in  1904.     Mo.  Sum.  Com.  &  Fin.,  Feb.,  1904, 

p.  2755. 
Baker,  E.  L.     Transportation  of  wheat  in  the  Argentine    Republic.      U.  S.  Cons. 

Rept.,  49:460,  1895. 

Baker,  R.  S.     The  movement  of  wheat.     McClure's  Mag.,  14:124,  1899. 
Baker,  Willis  E.     Transportation   of   wheat   in    the    Argentine   Republic.     U.    S. 

Cons.  Rept.,  49:460,  1895. 
Balz,  Sylvester.     Forage  plants  and  cereals.     S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  96, 

1906. 

Barrow,  D.  N.     Report  for  1901,  of  North  Louisiana  Experiment  Station. 
Beal,  F.  E.  L.     Birds  that  injure  grain.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  345,  1897. 
Food  of  the  bobolink,  blackbirds  and  grackles.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div. 

Biolog.  Sur.,  Bui.  13,  1900. 
Beal,  W.  H.     Farmyard  manure.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farmers'  Bui.  21,  1894. 


328  THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


Agr.,  p.  i»y,  1VU2.  °f  experiment  station  work-     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 

Beals,  Edward  A.  'Rainfall  and  irrigation.  Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  627, 
*Becker,  Max.  Der  argentinische  Weizen  im  Weltmarkte.  Jena,  1903  (Bibli- 
Bedfo^AknRep«fe  pigmental  Farm  for  Manitoba,  1899-1902,  in  Repts. 

Bennett,  Alfred  W      Wheat  rust  and  barberry  rust      Nature    2-318    1870 
Bennett   R.  L.     Wheat  experiments.     Ark.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta  ,  Bui!  29'  1894 

*y32,  1894  ^  and  S°me  °f  itS  Products-     Neb.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui. 

^tj^Dept.  Agrr°gpre465°,f  iSwl*  ^^  ™  ^  United  States'     Yearbook 

S.  Dept. 


Bolley,  H    L.     Wheat  rust      Ind.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  26,  1889 

' 


Birkbeck   Morns.     Notes  on  a  journey  throSgh  France,  1814  'L     1815 

2, 

.          .  .         .,          .       , 

Stf   Bui    1  7S?eid89Thange  UP°n  the  Culture  °f  wheat'     N  '  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp. 
•     Treatment  of  smut  in  wheat.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col   Exo   Sta     R,,1    10    1 

27    lT97      m?wP°n  ^  Sm,Ut  °f  wheat'  etc-     N-'^  Agr  Col   Exp  Sta    Bui 
27TL8p  9i     (?  ibhography  of  station  publications  on  cereal  smufs  )  '       L 


Bovev  C  CT'  f'       fevera   reproductions  of  the  rusts 


>  reduced. 

2n  Xte  Australian  wheat  yield. 

230,  Siberian  wheat. 

7^0  Co-operative  wheat  exporting. 

349,  Wheat  culture  in  North  Canada 

' 


6S4  ,.          Wheat  in  s 

97-S*  i«oo    Jhe  world's  wheat  crop. 
27.406,  1899,  Productive  California  wheat. 

28:6J|  1900, 

830,'  The  wheat  tides. 

30-149    1902    M^'?rKP°Sld  Gferman  duty  on  wheat. 
49'  19°2 


69,  aye 

495'  *  T£  En,?Hsh  view  of  American  wheat. 

Brandenburg,  Broughton      Mo  vino  -5,™          Crop  of  the  world- 

Weekly.  4^1632    1905          g    thlS    Year  S    record    ^rain    ^rop.     Harper's 

lZeSci^ceF  n.sE1e2C:i4°6f-9COT90n5trati0n  °f  nUtHent  S°lution  "*™  wheat  culture, 
t^w^Wm^H      Pirst  century  of  the  Republic      NY     1876 
Cereal  production.     10th  U.  S.  Census,  Vol    3    1880 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  329 

fBriggs,  Lyman  J.  Electrical  instruments  for  determining  the  moisture,  temper- 
ature, and  soluble  salt  content  of  soils.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr..  Div.  of  Soils, 
Bui.  15,  1899. 

An  electrical  method  for  determining  the  moisture  content  of  arable 

soils.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui.  6,  1897. 

An  electrical  method  for  determining  the  temperature  of  soils.     U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui.  7,  1897. 

The  mechanics  of  soil  moisture.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui. 

10    1897. 

The  movement  and  retention  of  water  in  soils.     Yearbook  U.S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  p.  399.  1898. 

Field  operations  of  the  Division  of  Soils.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,Rept.  64, 

1899. 

Objects   and  methods  of  investigating  certain   physical  properties   of 

soils.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  397,  1900. 

British  Almanac  Companion,  L.,  p.  62,  1839.     Enumeration  and  notice  of  acts  of 

Parliament  for  the  regulation  of  the  trade  of  wheat. 

British  Manufacturing  Industries.  L   2d  ed.   Vol.10    1877.    Agricultural  machinery. 
British  South  African  Gazette,  July,  Aug.,  Sept..  1903.     South  African  agriculture. 

in  U.  S.  daily  Cons.  Repts.,  No.  1768,  1903. 
Broomhall,  J.  S.     Corn  trade  yearbook.  1895. 

Brown.  A.  Crum.     Justus  Liebig.     Ency.  Brit..  9th  ed..  14:565,  1882. 
§Bruner,  Lawrence.     The  more  destructive  locusts  of  America  north  of  Mexico. 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Entomol.,  Bui.  28,  o.s.,  1893. 
Buchholz,  E.     Homerischen  Realien,  Vol.  I.  Leipsic    1871. 
Buffalo.  Chamber  of  Commerce,  report  1905. 
Buffum.  B.  C.     Results  of  three  years'  experiments  in  cost  and  profit  of  growing 

wheat.     Univ.  Wy.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  25,  1895. 

The  stooling  of  grains.     Univ.  Wy.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  37,  1898. 

•     Some  experiments  with  subsoiling.     Univ.  Wy.  Exp.  Sta. .Bui.  41.  1899. 

The  use  of  water  in  irrigation  in  Wyoming.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr..  Off. 

Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  81,  1900. 

Wheat  growing  on  the  Laramie  Plains.     Univ.  of  Wy.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui. 

60,  1903. 

Bunker,  Wm.  H.  Report  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  San  Francisco  of  the 
Honorary  Commission  of  foreign  commerce,  1900. 

Report  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress  at  Cripple  Creek. 

Colorado,  July,  1900  (to  San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce). 

Reports  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  San  Francisco,  of  July  10th, 


1902,  reviewing  legislative  acts  of  the  57th  Congress,  1st  session. 

Address  to  Chamber  of  Commerce,  San  Francisco,  July  21.  1903. 


Burgel.  Martin.  Russisches  Getreide.  Jahrbuch  f.  Gesetzgebung,  Verwaltung  und 
Volkswirthschaft  im  deutschen  Reich,  Bd.  24,  Heft  II,  s.  205,  1900. 

Burrows,  Alvin  T.     Hot  waves.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  325.  1900. 

Burtis,  F.  C.     Okla.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta..  Bui.  65,  1905. 

Caird,  James.  High  farming  under  liberal  covenants  the  best  substitute  for 
protection.  Edinburg,  1849. 

High  farming  vindicated.     Edinburg,  1850. 

India,  the  land  and  the  people.     L.,  1884. 

Agriculture  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  Vol.  II.     London  and  Phila- 
delphia, 1887. 

California  State  Agricultural  Society,  report  1905. 

Cameron,  Frank  K.  Field  operations  of  the  Division  of  Soils.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 
Rept.  64,  1899. 

The  chemistry  of  the  soil  as  related  to  crop  production.     U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  Bu.  Soils,  Bui.  22.  1903. 

Candolle,  Alphonse  de.     Origin  of  cultivated  plants.     N.  Y..  1885. 
fCarleton,    Mark  Alfred.       Preliminary  report  on  rusts  of  grain.       Kan.  State  Agr. 
Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  38.  1893. 

Improvements  in  wheat  culture.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p. 

489,  1896.      Also  in  Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Agr.,  Vol.  21,   No.  81,  1902,  p.  50 

* •     Cereal   rusts  of  the  United   States.     U.   S.   Dept.   Agr.,  Div.  Veg. 

Phys.  &  Path.,  Bui.  16,  1899.     (Bibliography  on  rust,  74  works.) 

-Russian  cereals  adapted  for  cultivation  in  the  United  States.     U.  S. 


Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Botanv,  Bui.  23,  1900. 

*- The  basis  for  the  improvement  of  American  wheats.    U.  S.  Dept.  Agr 

Div.  Veg.  Phys.  &  Path.,  Bui.  24,  1900. 


330  THE  BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


— : Successful  wheat  growing  in  semi-arid  districts.     Yearbook  U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  529.  1900. 
Macaroni  wheats.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  Plant  Indus.,  Bui.  3,  1901. 

Emmer;  a  grain  for  the  semi-arid  regions.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farm- 
ers' Bui.  139,  1901. 

Wheat  improvements  in  Kansas.     Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Agr.,  Vol. 

21,  No.  81,  p.  56,  1902. 

-     Investigations  of  rusts.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Plant  Indus.,  Bui. 

—     The  commercial  status  of  durum  wheat.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of 

Plant  Indus.,  Bui.  70,  1904. 

Lessons  from  the  grain-rust  epidemic  of  1904.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 


Farmers'  Bui.  219,  1905. 
Casson.  Herbert  N.     The  Romance  of  the  Reaper.     N.  Y.,  1908. 
*Chamberlain    Joseph  S.     The    commercial    status  of  durum  wheat.     U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  Bu.  Plant  Indus.,  Bui.  70,  1904. 

Chambers'  Journal,  Edinburg,  21:4,  1854.     Steam  among  farmers. 
tChase.  Leon  Wilson.     Farm  Machinery  and  Farm  Motors,  N.  Y.,  1908. 
Cheyney,  Edw.  P.     Social     changes    in    England.     Boston,     1895.     Penn.     Univ. 

Publications,  Philology,  Literature  and  Archaeology,  series,  Vol.  4,  No.  2. 
Chief  Grain  Inspectors'  National  Association.  Proceedings  1st,  2d  and  3d  annual 

conventions,  1902-3. 
Chilcott   E.  C.     Macaroni  wheat  in  South  Dakota.     S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta., 

Bui.  77,  1902. 

Crop  rotation  for  South  Dakota.     S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  79, 1903. 

Some  soil  problems  for  practical  farmers.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

pp.  441-52,  1903. 

*Chittenden,  F.  H.     Some    insects    injurious    to  'stored    grain.     Yearbook    U.    S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  277,  1894.     Also  in  Farmers'  Bui.  45,  1897. 
Church,  A(rthur)  H(erbert).     Food  grains  of  India.     L..  1886. 
Clark,  V.  A.     Seed  selection  according  to  specific  gravity.     N.  Y.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta. 

Bui.  256,  1904. 

Clarke,  S.  A.     The  Inland  Empire's  harvests.     Outlook,  66:286,  1900. 
Coburn,  F.  D.     Kansas  and  her  resources. 

Kansas  wheat  growing.     Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Agr.,  Vol.  21,  No.  81,  1902. 

Kansas  statistics.     Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Agr.,  Vol.  21,  No.  84,  1902. 

Code,  W.  H.     Use  of  watei  in  irrigation.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.  Bui.  86, 

1899. 
Coffin,  Fred  F.  B.     Final  report  of  the  mid-plains  division  of  the  artesian  and 

underflow  investigation  between  the  97th  meridian  of    longitude  and  the 

foothills  of   the  Rocky   Mountains.     Sen.   Ex.    Doc.,    1st  sess.,   52   Cong., 

1891-'92.  Vol.  4    Irrigation  part  4,  serial  No.  2899. 

Cole,  John  S.     Crop  rotation.     S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  98,  1906. 
Colman,  Norman  J.      Introduction  to  "Organization  of  Agricultural   Experiment 

Station  in  the  United  States."     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  1,  p.  5. 

1899. 
Colquhoun.  Peter.     Treatise  on  the  wealth,  r»ower  and  resources  of  the  British 

Empire.     L.    1814. 

Comer,  C.  M.     Wheat.     S.  C.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta..  Bui.  27,  1898. 
Commercial  and  Financial  Chronicle.  N.  Y.     75 :292,  1902,     The  Deering  Harvester 

Company. 

Commercial  Review,  Portland,  Oregon,  July  1,   1901  &  1903. 
Conant,  Charles  A.     The  uses  of  speculation.     Forum,  31:698-712,   1901. 
Conner,  C.  M.     Field  experiments  with  wheat.     Mo.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  21. 

1893. 

Conner,  John  B.     Eighth  Biennial  Report  (14th  Volume)  of  the  Indiana  Depart- 
ment of  Statistics.  1899-1900. 
Conrad,  J.     Getreidepreise.     Handworterbuch    der    Staatswissenschaften,    3:888, 

1892. 

Cooley,  R.  A.     Entomological  Department.     Rept.  Mont.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  1902. 
Corn  Trade  Year  Book,  Liverpool  &  L.,  1895,  J.  S.  Broomhall. 
Cottrell   H.  M.     Wheat  as  a  food  for  farm  animals.     Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Agr., 

Vol.  21,  No.  81,  p.  117,  1902. 
Coville,  F.  V.     Division  of  Botany.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.   p.  90,  1897. 

-     Report  of  Botanist  of  Bu.  of  Plant  Indus.,  1901. 
Crawford,  R.  F.     An  inquiry  into  wheat  prices  and  wheat  supply.     Jour.  Roy. 

Sta.  Soc.,  58:75,  1895. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  331 

Notes  on  the  food  supply  of  the  United  Kingdom,  Belgium,  France  and 

Germany.     Jour.  Roy.  Sta.  Spc.,  62:597,  1899. 

Crookes,  Wm.     Address.     Kept.  Brit.  Ass'n  for  Adv.  of  Sci.,  1898. 

The  wheat  problem.     L.,  1900. 

*Crosby,  D.  J.     Agricultural    Experiment    Stations   in   foreign   countries.     U.    S. 
Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  112,  1902. 

Work  and  expenditures  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Stations.     Kept. 

Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  p.  23,  1902. 

The  usual  illustrative  material  in  teaching  agriculture  in  rural  schools. 

Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1905,  p.  257. 

Culbertson,  Harvey.     Irrigation    investigations   in   western  Texas.     U.    S.    Dept. 

Agr.,  Off. of  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  158,  1904. 
Cunningham,  Bryson.     Grain  storage  and  manipulation  at  the  quayside.     Gassier, 

28:40-54,  1905. 

Current  Literature,  36 :548,  1904.     Different  breads  and  their  values. 
Dabney,  Charles  W.     Agriculture,  United  States.     Ency.  Brit.,   10th  ed.,  1:209, 

1902. 
Dabney,  John  C.     The  superior  value  of  large,  heavy  seed.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 


Agr-,  P-  305,  1896. 
nple, 


Dalrymple,  Wm.     Treatise  on  the  culture  of  wheat.     L.,  1801. 

Dalton,  J.  C.     Aliment  or  food.     Amer.  Cy.,  1:314,  1873. 

*Darwin,    Charles.     The   variation   of  animals  and  plants  under  domestication. 

N.  Y.,  1868. 

Daubeny,  Charles  Giles  Bridle.     Lectures  on  Roman  husbandry.     Oxford,  1857. 
tDavidson,  J.  Brownlee.     Farm  Machinery  and  Farm  Motors,  N.  Y.,  1908. 
Davis,  C.  W.     The  wheat  supply  of  Europe  and  America,  1891.     Arena,  3 :641,  1891. 
Some  new  views  of  "options,"  "futures,"  and  "hedging,"  1892. 

Wheat:  Crookes  vs.  Atkinson,  Dodge,  et  al.     Forum,  27:101,  1899. 

Our  present  and  prospective  food  supply.     In  "The  Wheat  Problem"  by 

Crookes,  p.    155,    1900. 

Davis,  Horace.     Wheat  in  California.     Overland  Mo.,  1 :442,  1868;  n.s.,  32 :60,  1898. 

*Deh£rain,  P.  P.     Science  in  wheat  growing.     Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  50:101,  1896. 

Dennis,  J.  S.     Irrigation   laws   of   the    Northwest  Territories   of   Canada  and   of 

Wyoming.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  96,  1901. 
*DeVries,  Hugo.     Plant  breeding.     Comments  on  the  experiments  of  Nilsson  and 

Burbank,  Chicago,  1907. 
tDewey,  Lyster  Hoxie.      The  Russian  thistle.      U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farmers'   Bui., 

10,  1893. 

The  Russian  Thistle.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Botany,  Bui.  15,  1894. 

* Legislation  against  weeds.   U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Botany,  Bui.  17,  1896. 

Migration  of  weeds.     Yearbook,  U.S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  263,  1896. 

Dike,  G.  P.     The  Argentine  wheat  farm.     Outlook,  64:119,  1900. 

Dorsey,  Clarence  W.     Field  operations  of  the  Division  of  Soils.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

Div.  of  Soils,  Rept.  64,  1899. 

Douglas,  E.  S.     A  model  bakery  in  London.     The  World  Today,  10:213-14,  1906. 
Drill,  Robert.     Soil  Deutschland  seinen  ganzen  Getreidededarf  selbst  produzieren? 

Stuttgart,  1895. 
Duvel,  J.  W.  T.     The  vitality  of  buried  seeds.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Plant 

Indus.,  Bui.  83,  1905. 
Eastman,  Philip.     This  year's  big  wheat  harvest  in  Kansas.     Rev.  of  Revs.,  28 :193, 

1903. 
Edgar,  William  C.     The  story  of  a  grain  of  wheat.     N.  Y.,  1903. 

England's  fight  for  free  bread.     The  Northwestern  Miller,  Vol.  55,  No.  1, 

p.  21,  1903. 

Edwards,  S.  Fred.     Some    essential    soil    changes   produced   by  micro-organisms. 

Mich.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  218,  1904. 
Eighty  years  progress  of  the  United  States,  Hartford,  1877. 
Elliott,  C.  G.     Some  engineering  features  of  drainage.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 

p.  231,  1902. 

Ellis,  William.     The  modern  husbandman.     L.,  1744. 
*tEmery,   Henry  Crosby.     Legislation   against  futures.     Pop.  Sci.  Quar.,    10:62, 

1895. 
* Speculation  on  the  stock  and  produce  exchanges  of  the  United  States. 

N.  Y.,  1896. 
* The  results  of  the  German  exchange  act  of  1896.     Pol.  Sci.  Quar.,  13 :286, 

1898. 
* Futures  in  the  grain  market.     Econ.  Jour.,  9:44,  1899. 


332  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

England  Chas      All  grain  inspection  departments  should  be  conducted  upon  civil 

service  principles.     Amer.  Elevator  &  Grain  Trade,  22  :200,  1903. 
StEriksson,  J.     Zeitschrift  fur  Pflanzenkrankenheiten,  Vol.  4,  Stuttgart,  1894. 

Die  Getreiderost,   Stockholm,    1896. 

Ewell,  Ervin  E.     Every  farm  an  experiment  station.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

'p.  291,  1897. 
Fairchild   David.     Cultivation  of  wheat  in  permanent  alfalfa  fields.     U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  Bu.  of  Plant  Indus.,  Bui.  72,  1905. 
Fairchild,  David  G.     Saragolla  wheat.     U.S.  Dept.  Agr,    Bu.  Plant  Indus.,  Bui. 

25,  1903. 
Fairfield,  W.  H.     Some  experiments  with  subsoiling.     Univ.  Wy.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui. 

41,  1899. 

Experiments  in  wheat  culture.     Univ.  Wy.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  48,  1901. 

Farm  Implement  News,  Chicago,  July  17,  1902. 

Farm  Machinery  Daily,   St.  Louis,  Oct.  23,  1903,  Proceedings  of  the  tenth  annual 

convention   of   the   National   Association   of   Agricultural    Implement   and 

Vehicle  Manufacturers. 
Fields,  John.     Reports  of  wheat  raisers.     Okla.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  47,  1900. 

Report  Oklahoma  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  1902 

Fitch,  Chas.  H.     Manufacturers  of  interchangeable  mechanism:  vii.,  Agricultural 

Implements.     10th  U.  S.  Census,  Vol.  2,  1880. 
*Fitzherbert,  Anthony  (?).    Book  of  husbandry.    L.,  1882.    Reprinted  from  edition 

of  1534  by  W.  W.  Skeat. 
Fleming,  O.     The  supply  of  wheat.     Economic  Review,  15:212-14;  332-5;  474-6, 

1905. 
Fletcher,  James.     Report  of  the  Entomologist  and  Botanist,  1898-1902.     In  Repts. 

of  Can.  Exp.  Farms,  1898-1902. 

Injurious  insects  of  the  year  in  Canada.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of 

Entomology,  Bui.  40,  n.s.,  1903. 

Flint,  Charles  L.     Progress    in    Agriculture.     In    Eighty   Years    Progress    of    the 

U.  S.,  1867. 
Foering,  John  O.     Proceedings  of  the  first  annual  convention  of  the  Chief  Grain 

Inspectors'  National  Association,  Feb.  1902. 

Same,  second  annual  convention.  Oct.  1902. 

Same,  third  annual  convention,  Oct.  1903.     In  Amer.  Elevator  &  Grain 

Trade,  Vol.  22,  No.  4,  Oct.  15,  1903. 

Forbes,  R.  H.     Sixteenth  Annual  Report,  Univ.  of  Ariz.  Agr.  Exp   Sta.,  1905. 
Ford,  W.  C.     The  question  of  wheat.     I,  England.     Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  52:760,  1898. 

The  question  of  wheat.     II,  France.     Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  53:1,  1898. 

The  question  of  wheat.     Ill,  Russia.     Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  53:351,  1898. 

* Wheat  in  commerce.     Mo.  Summary  of  Com.  &  Fin.,  March,  1898,  p.  1386. 

Fortier,  S.     Report  Montana  Agricultural  College  Experiment  Station,  1902. 

Fortune,  Robert.     Wanderings  in  China.     L.,  1847. 

Foster,  Luther.     Experiments  in  wheat  culture.     Univ.  Wy.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  48, 

1901. 
Fowler,  Eldridge  M.     Agricultural  machinery  and  implements.     In  C.  M.  Depew's 

100  Yrs.  Amer.  Commerce,  2:352,  1895. 
Fream,  Wm.     The  complete  grazier.     13th  ed.,  L.,  1893,  p.  706. 

Agriculture:  United  Kingdom.     Ency.  Brit.  10th  ed.,  1:209,  1902. 

*Freeman,  E.  M.     Minnesota  plant  diseases,  1905 

The  use  of  the  seed  plat  in  the  prevention  of  diseases  in  wheat.     Proc. 

Amer.  Breeder's  Ass'n,  2:49,  1906. 

Fuchs,  Carl  Johannes.     Der    Englische    Getreidehandel    und    seine    Organisation. 
Jahrbucher  fur  Nationalokonomie,  54:1,  1890. 

Der  Waren-Terminhandel.     Leipzig,  1891. 

Galloway,  B.  T.     Water  as  a  factor  in  the  growth  of  plants.     Yearbook  U.  S  Dept 
Agr.,  p.  165,  1894. 

Division  of  Vegetable  Physiology  and  Pathology.     Yearbook  U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  99,  1897. 

Progress  in   the  treatment  of  plant  diseases  in  the  United  States. 

Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  191,  1899. 

Industrial  progress  in  plant  work.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p. 

Gardner,  Frank  D.     An  electrical  method  of  determining  the  moisture  content 
of  arable  soils.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui.  6,  1897. 

Field  operations  of  the  Division  of  Soils.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Rept.  64. 

pp.  36,  77. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  333 

The  electrical  method  of  moisture  determination  in  soils.     U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui.  12,  1898. 

Garman,  H.     Red  rust  of  wheat.     Ky.  State  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  77,  1898. 

•     A  new  wheat  fly.     Ky.  State  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  30,  1890. 

Gamier,  Russel  M.     History  of  the  English  landed  interest.     L.,  1892. 

Annals  of  the  British  peasantry.     L.,  &  N.  Y.,  1895. 

Gauss,  Robert.     Breeding  drought-resistant  crops.     Proc.  Amer.  Breeders'  Ass'n, 

2:106,  1906. 
Georgeson,  C.  C.     Experiments   with   wheat.     Kan.    State   Agr.    Col.    Exp.    Sta., 

Buls.  20,  1891;  33,  1892;  40,  1893;  59,  1896. 

Report  of  Alaska  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  1904. 

Gibbins,  H.  de  B.     Industry  in  England.     L.,  1896. 
Gibson,  J.     Agriculture  in  Wales.     L.,  1879. 

Giffin,  R.     The  coming  scarcity  of  wheat.     Nature  61:169,  1899. 

Gilbert,  J.  H.     On  agricultural  chemistry,  especially  in  relation  to  the  numerical 

theory  of  Baron  Liebig,  L.,  1851. 
On  some  points  in  the  composition  of  wheat  grains,  its  products  in  the  mill 

and  bread,  L.,  1857. 

On  the  home  produce,  imports,  consumption  and  price  of  wheat,  L., 


1852-53.     Jour.  Roy.  Sta.  Soc.,  43:313,  1880. 
Girard,  A.     Le  froment  et  sa  mouture.     Paris,  1903. 
Googe,  Barnaby.     The  whole  art  and  trade  of  husbandry.     L.,  1614. 
Grandeau,  L.     Le  movement  agricole.     Journal  des  Economistes,   5e  s.,  34:192; 

35:188;  36:182,  1898. 
Greathouse,  Charles  H.     Historical  sketch  of  the  United     States     Department    of 

Agriculture.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Pub.,  Bui.  3,  rev.  ed.,  1898. 
Development  of  agricultural  libraries.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

p.  491,  1898. 

State  publications  on  agriculture.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1904, 


p.  521. 

*Gregory,  J.  W.     Final  report  of  the  mid  plains  division  of  the  artesian  and  under- 
flow investigation  between  the  97th  meridian  of  longitude,  and  the  foothills 

of  the  Rocky  Mountains.     Sen.  Ex.  Doc.,  1st  sess.,  52d  Cong.,  1891-92,  Vol. 

4,  Irriga.  Part.  4,  serial  No.  2899. 

Grey,  John.     A  view  of  the  past  and  present  state  of  agriculture  in  Northumber- 
land.    Berwick,  1841. 
Grimes,  H.  S.     Report  of  the  annual  convention  of  the  Grain  Dealers'  National 

Association.     Amer.  Elev.  &  Grain  Trade,  22:177,  1903. 
Grisdale,  J.  H.     Report  of  the  Agriculturalist.     Rept.  Can.  Exp.  Farms,  p.  263, 

1901;  p.  129,  1902. 
Grosvenor,  W.  M.     The  world's  wheat  situation.     Banker's  Mag.,   (N.  Y.)  50:26, 

1894. 
Hackney,  Herbert.     Kansas  wheat  and  its  products.     Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Agr., 

Vol.  21,  No.  81,  p.  83,  1902. 

Hadley,  A.  T.     The  world's  wheat  harvest.     Nation,  47:306,  1888. 
Hall,  A.  D.     Artificial  fertilizers.     Sci.  Am.  S.,  Vols.  63  and  64,  1907. 
Halsted,  Byron  D.     Conditions  of  growth  of  the  wheat  rust.     Science,  3:457,  1884. 
Hamilton,  John.     The  farmers'  institutes.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  pp.  109- 

158,  1903. 
Handwortenbuch  der  Staatswissenschaften,  Jena. 

3:861,  1892,  Die  altere  Getreidehandelspolitik  und  Allgemeines,  W.  Lexis. 
869,  Der  Getreidehandel  in  den  Vereinigten  Staaten  von  Amerika, 

M.  Sering. 

872,  Der  Getreidehandel  in  Russland,  Jollos. 

878.  Statistic  des  Getreidehandel,  v.  Juraschek. 

888,  Getreidepreise,  J.  Conrad. 

893,  Getreideproduktion,  A.  Wirminghaus. 

899,  Getreidezolle,  H.  Paasche. 

4:249,  1892,  Hagelschadenversicherung,  Emminghaus.    Supplemenstband. 

1:345,  1895,  Getreidehandel. 

Hansbrough,  H.  C.     Address.     Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Ass'n,  p.  122,  1900. 
Harper,  J.  N.     Protein-content  of  the  wheat  kernel.     Ky.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui. 

113,  1904. 
Hart,  E.  B.     The  nature  of  the  principal  phosphorus  compound  in  wheat  bran. 

N.  Y.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  250,  1904. 
Harter,  L.  L.     The  variability  of  wheat  varieties  in  resistance  of  toxic  salts.     U.S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Plant  Indus.,  Bui.  79,  1905.     (Contains  bibliography  on 

subject.) 


334  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

*Hartlib,  Samuel.     Legacy  of  husbandry.     L.,  1655. 

Harwood,  W.  S.     Breeding  new  wheats.     World's  Work,  2:745,  1901. 

Hassall,  Arthur  Hill.  Food:  Its  adulterations  and  the  methods  for  their  detection. 
L.,  1876. 

Haworth,  E.  Gypsum  as  a  soil  fertilizer.  Rept.  Kans.  State  Bd.  Agr.,  Vol.  21, 
No.  81,  p.  206,  1903. 

*Hay,  Robert.  Final  geological  reports  of  the  artesian  and  underflow  investiga- 
tion between  the  97th  meridian  of  longitude  and  the  foothills  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Sen.  Ex.  Doc.  1st  sess.  52d  Cong.,  1891-92,  Vol.  4,  Irriga., 
Part  3,  serial  No.  2899. 

tHays,  Willet  M.  Grain  and  forage  crops.  N.  D.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  10,  1893; 
Bui.  40,  1894;  Bui.  46,  1895;  Bui.  50,  1896. 

The  Russian  thistle,  or  Russian  tumble  weed.     Univ.  of  Minn.  Agr.  Exp. 

Sta.,  Bui.  33,  1894. 

*— Progress  in  plant  and  animal  breeding.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  pp. 

217-232,  1901. 

Wheat  varieties,  breeding  and  cultivation.     Univ.  Minn.  Exp.  Sta.,  Class 

Bui.  62,  1899. 

Minnesota  No.  163  wheat.     Univ.  Minn.  Exp.  Sta.,  Class  Bui.  8,  1900. 

* Plant  breeding.     U.S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.Veg.  Phys.&  Pathol.,  Bui.  29,  1901. 

Winter  wheat  in  Minnesota.     Univ.  Minn.  Exp.  Sta.,  press  Bui.  17,  1903. 

Hayward,  A.  I.     Wheat.     Md.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  14,  1891. 

Haywood,  J.  K.     Analysis  of  waters  and  interpretation  of  results.     Yearbook  U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  283,  1902. 

§Heer,  O.     Die  Pflanzen  der  Pfahlbauten.      Zurich,  1866. 
§Henley,  Walter.     H.s    Husbandry   w.    an    anon,    husbandry,    seneschaucie  &  R. 

Grosseteste's  rules.     Transcripts,  tr.  &  glossary  by  E.  Lamond,  intr.  by  W. 

Cunningham  (R.  Hist.  Soc.  London). 
Hervey  de  Saint  Denys,  M.  J.  L.     Recherches  sur  1'agriculture  des  Chinois.     Paris, 

1850. 
Hess,  Enos  H.     Pa.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  46,  1899. 

Variety  tests  of  wheat.     Pa.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  55,  1901. 

Hickman,  J.  Fremont.  Field  experiments  with  wheat.  O.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui. 
82,  1897. 

Field  experiments  with  wheat.     O.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  129,  1901. 

Hicks,  Gilbert  H.     Standards  of  the  purity  and  the  vitality  of  agricultural  seeds. 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.   Div.  Botany,  Cir.  6,  1896. 

The  superior  value  of   large,  heavy  seed.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

p.  305,  1896. . 

The    germination   of    seeds  as   affected   by    certain   chemical  fertilzers. 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Botany,  Bui.  24,  1900. 

Hill,  J.  J.     Address.     Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Ass'n,  p.  157,  1900 
Hill,  John,  Jr.     Gold  bricks  of  speculation.      N.  Y.  Com.,  Sept.  21-27,  1903. 
*Hinton,  Richard  J.     Report  on  irrigation,  including  article,  "Facts  and  conditions 

relating  to  irrigation  in  various  countries."     Sen.  Ex.  Doc.,  1st  sess.,  52d 

Cong.,  1891-92,  Vol.  4,  serial  No.  2899,  p.  337. 
Hitchcock,  A.  S.     Preliminary  report  on  rusts  of  grain.     Kan.  State  Agr.  Col.  Exp. 

Sta.,  Bui.  38,  1893. 

Prevention  of  grain  smuts.     Kan.  State  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  99, 

Botanical  notes  on  wheat  and  spelt.     Kan.  State  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta., 

Bui.  99,  1900. 

Hoffman,  C.  B.     Milling  in  the  Kansas  wheat  belt.     Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Agr., 

Vol.  21,  No.  81,  p.  89,  1902. 
*tHolmes,  Edwin  S.,  Jr.       Wheat  growing  and  general   agricultural   condition  in 

the  Pacific  coast  regions  of  the  United  States.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Sta., 

Misc.  series,  Bui.  20,  1901. 

Wheat  ports  on  the  Pacific  coast.     Yearbook  U.  S.    Dept.    Agr.,  p. 

567,  1901. 

Holmes,  George  K.     Progress  of  agriculture  in  the  United  States.     Yearbook  U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  307,  1899. 
* The  course  of  prices  of  farm  implements  and  machinery.     U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  Div.  Sta.,  Misc.  ser.,  Bui.  18,  1901. 

Practices  in  crop  rotation.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  519,  1902. 

Home,  Francis.     The  principles  of  agriculture  and  vegetation.     Edinburgh,  1757. 
Hopkins,  Cyril  G.     Soil  treatment  for  wheat  in  rotation.   Univ.  111.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui. 

88,  1903. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  335 

Soil  treatment  for  wheat  on  the  poorer  lands  of  the  Illinois  wheat  belt. 

Univ.  111.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Cir.  97,  1905. 

Hoskyn,  Chandos  Wren.     Short  inquiry  into  history  of  agriculture.     L.,  1849. 
Hourwich,  I.  A.      Wheat  growing  in  Russia.     Jour.  Pol.  Econ.,  12:257,  1904. 
fHoward,  L.  O.     The  chinch  bug.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Entomol.,  Bui.  17, 1888. 
(Bibliography  on  chinch  bug,  64  works.) 

Danger  of  importing  insect  pests.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  529. 

1897. 

Recent  laws  against  injurious  insects  in  North  America.     U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  Div.  Entomol.,  Bui.  13,  n.  s.,  1898. 

The  joint  worm.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Entomol.,  Cir.  66,  1905. 

Progress   in   economic    entomology  in  the    United  States.     Yearbook, 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.   135,    1899. 

Experimental  work   with  fungous  diseases  of  grasshoppers.     Yearbook 


U.S.  Dept.  Agr.  p.  459,  1901. 
Humboldt,  F.  W.  H.  A.     Essai  politique  sur  le  royaume  de  la  Nouvelle  Espagne. 

Paris,  1811. 

Hummel,  J.  A.     Soil  investigations.      Univ.  Minn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  89,  1905. 
*Hunt,  Thomas  F.     Cereals  in  Ame  ici.      N.  Y.    1904. 

Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  N.  Y.,  16:293,  1847.     The  cost  of  raising  wheat. 
Huston,  H.  A.     Forms  of  nitog  n  for  wheat.      Ind.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  41,  1892. 
Hutchinson,  B.  P.     Speculation  in  wheat.      N.  Amer.  Rev.,  153:414,  1891. 
Hutchinson,  W.  L.     Soils  of  Mississippi.      Miss.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  66,  1901. 

Analyses  of  commercial  fertilizers.   Miss.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  77,  1902. 

tHyde,  John.     Statistics  of  agriculture.      llth  U.  S.  Cen.,  1890. 

Division  of  Statistics.      Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  258,  1897. 

The  fertilizer  industry.      U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Sta.,  Misc.  Ser.,  Bui.  13, 

1898. 

America  and  the  wheat  problem.     N.  Amer.  Rev.,  168:191,  1899.     Also 

in  "The  Wheat  Problem"  by  William  Crookes,  p.  189,  1900. 

Industrial  Commission,  Washington,  reports: 
Vol.    4,  1900,  Transportation. 

6,  1901,  Distribution  of  farm  products. 
9,  1901,  Transportation. 

10,  1901,  Agriculture. 

11,  1901,  Agriculture. 

Ingersoll,  C.  L.     Wheat  and  some  of  its  products.      Neb.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  32 

1894. 

Inman,  A.  H.     Domesday  and  feudal  statistics.     L.,  1900. 
Insurance  Times,  N.  Y.      1:391,   1868. 
4:473,  1871. 
11:261,   1878. 

Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  Washington,  reports,  1900,  1902. 
Irving,  H.     Use  of  water  in  irrigation.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  86, 

p.  131,  1899. 
Jackson,  John  R.     On    the    botanical    origin    of    wheat.     Intellectual    Observer, 

11:262,  1867. 
Jeffery,  T.  A.     Soil  moisture,  its  importance  and  management.     Mich.  Agr.  Col. 

Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  219,  1904. 
Jensen,  G.  H.     Toxic  limits  and  stimulation  effects  of  some  salts  and  poisons  on 

wheat.     Bot.  Gazette,  43:11,  1907 

Jesse,  E.     Pedigree  wheat.      Once  a  Week,  9:332,  1863. 
Johnson,  C.  T.     The  use  of  water  in  irrigation.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta., 

Bui.  86,  p.  47,  1899. 

Practical  irrigation       Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  491,  1900. 

tJohnson,  S.  W.     How  crops  grow.     N.  Y.,  1868. 

How  crops  feed.      N.  Y.,  1870. 

Johnson,  Willis  G.    The  Hessian  fly  in  Maryland.    Md.  Agr.,  Exp.  Sta.  Bui.  58,  1898. 
Jollos, — Der   Getreidehandel    in    Russland.      Handworterbuch    der    Staatswissen- 

schaften,  3:872,  1892. 
Journal  of  Political  Economy,  Chicago: 

1:68,  1892,  The  price  of  wheat  since  1867. 

1:365,  1893,  The  food  supply  and  the  price  of  wheat. 
Journal  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England.     L.,  1st  s.,  12:587,  1851. 

Report  to  H.  R.  H.,  the  President  of  the  commission  for  the  exhibition  of 

the  works  of  industry  of  all  nations  on  agricultxtral  implements. 
Judd,  Svlvester  D.     Birds  as  weed  destroyers.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p. 

221,  1898. 


336  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

Juraschek   v. .     Statistic   des  Getreidehandel.     Handworterbuch  der  Staats- 

wissenschaften,  3:878,  1892. 

Kansas  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  report,  1902,  Vol.  21,  Nos.  81,  84. 
Kapp,  Friedrich      Die    Amerikanische    Weizenproduktion.     Volkswirthschaftliche 

Zeitfragen,  Jahrgang  2,  Heft  6,  1880. 
Kaufman,  E.  E.     Farmers'  Institute  Annual,  N.  D.,  1902. 
Kearney,  Thomas  H.     Crops  used  in  the  reclamation  of  alkali  lands  in  Egypt 

Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  573,  1902. 
Kedzie,  R.  C.      The  ripening  of  wheat.     Rept.  Mich.  Bd.  Agr.,  1881-82. 

C9mposition  of  wheat  and  straw.     Mich.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  101,  1893 

Keyser,  Alvin.     Winter  wheat.     Univ.  of  Neb.  Agr.,  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  89,  1905. 

Variation  in  wheat  hybrids,  Proc.  Amer.  Breeders'  Ass'n,  2:84,  1906.' 

Methods  in  wheat  breeding.      Proc.  Amer.  Breeders'  Ass'n,  2:186,  1906. 

King,  F.  H.     Irrigation  in  humid  climes.      U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farmers'  Bui.  46,  1896 

Some  results  of  investigations  in  soil  management.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 


Agr.,  pp.  159-174,  1903. 
King-Parks,  Henry.     On    the    supposed    germinating   powers   of  mummy  wheat 

Jour.  Sci.,  22:604,  1885. 
Klippart,  John  H.     An  essay  on  the  origin,  growth,  diseases,  varieties,  etc.,  of  the 

wheat  plant.     Annual  O.  Agr.  Rept.,  1857. 
Knappen,  T.  M.     Reciprocity  with  Canada.     Amer.  Elev.  &  Grain  Trade,  22:195, 

Knight,  Edward.     Reaping  machine.     Knight's  New  Mechan.  Diet.,  p.  743    1884 

Reaper.     Amer.  Mechan.  Diet.,  3:1888,  1876. 

Kuczynski,  R.  R.     Freight  rates  on  Argentine  and  North  American  wheat       Tour 

Pol.  Econ.,  10:333,  1902. 
Ladd,  E.  F.     North  Dakota  soils.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  24,  1896 

Maintaining  our  soil  fertility.     Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Ass'n,  p 

142,  1900. 

Humus  and  soil  nitrogen  and  studies  with  wheat.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp. 

Sta.,  Bui.  47,  1901. 

Chemical  Department.     Annual  Repts.  N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  1901-1903 

Alkali  lands.     N.  D.  Farmers'  Inst.  Annual,  p.   129,  1902. 

Analysis  of  formaldehyde  sold    in  North    Dakota.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp. 

Sta.,  Bui.  60,  1904. 

Ladd,  Story  B.     Patent  growth  of  the  industrial  arts.     12th  U.  S.  Cen.,  Vol.  10 

Part  4,  1900. 
Lamphere,  George  N.     The  history  of    wheat   raising    in  the  Red  river  valley, 

Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Ass'n,  p.  179,  1900. 
Lamprecht,  Karl      Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  des  franzosischen  Wirthschaftslebens 

im  elften  Jahrhundert.     Leipzig,  1878. 

Latham   Wilfred.     The  states  of  the  River  Plate.     L.,  1868. 

Latta,  W.  C.     Field  experiments  with  wheat.     Ind.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  41,  1892. 
.baut,  Agnes  C.     The  American  invasion  of  Canada's  wheat  belt.     Century,  65 :481, 

Lawes,  J.  B      On  the  growth  of  wheat  upon  the  same  land  for  four  successive  years. 

J-/.,  Io45. 

On  agricultural  chemistry,  especially  in  relation  to  the  universal  theory 
of  Baron  Liebig.     L.,  1851. 

On  some  points  in  the  composition  of  wheat  grain,  its  products  in  the  mill, 
and  bread.     L.,  1857. 

On  the  home  produce,  imports,  consumption  and  price  of  wheat,  1852-53. 
Jour.  Roy  Sta.  Soc.,  43:313,  1880. 
Leclerc  J.  A.     The  effect  of  climatic  conditions  on  the  composition  of  durum  wheat. 

Yearbook   U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1906,  p.  199. 

Belter,  Joseph      Wheat  and  its  distribution.     Cosmopolitan,  26 :1 14,  1898. 
Levy,  Raphael  Georges.     Les  marches  a  terme.     Annales  des  Sciences  Politiques, 

Lexis,  W.     Die  altere  Getreidehandelspolitik  und  Allgemeines.       Handworterbuch 

T-   A  4.   fr  SJaatswissenschaften,   3:861,    1892. 

i^inaet,  L,      Le  froment  et  sa  mouture.     Paris,  1903 

i-ippert,  Gustav.     Getreidepreise   und  Getreidezolle.     Zeitschrift  fur   Volkswirth- 

.          schalt,  Socialpolitik  und  Verwaltung,  8:276,  1899 
i-ippert,  Julius      Kulturgeschichte,  Stuttgart,  1:584,  1886. 

ng?c°a?  Gazette,  41  ^£4 ^  19oT  ^^  °f  ^  "^  °f  tOPS  "  ^^     Botan" 
Lorenz,  Ch.     Deutschlands  Getreideproduktion,  Brodbedarf  und  Brodbeschaffung. 
Volkswirthschaftliche  Zeitfragen,  Jahrgang,  3,  Heft  6,  1881. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  337 

Loughridge,  R.  H.     Tolerance  of  alkali  by  various  cultures.     Univ.  of  Calif.  Agr. 

Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  133,  1901. 
Lowe,  Joseph.     Present  state  of  England  in  regard  to  agriculture,  trade  and  finance. 

L.,  1824. 
Lyon,  T.  L.     The  adaptation  and  improvement  of  winter  wheat.     Neb.  Agr.  Exp. 

Sta.,  Bui.  72    1902. 

Winter  wheat.     Univ.  of  Neb.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  89,  1905. 

* Improving  the  quality  of  wheat.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  Plant  Indus.,  Bui. 

78,  1905.    (Bibliography  m  foot  notes.) 

Some  correlated  characters  in  wheat  and  their  transmission.     Proc.  Amer. 

Breeders'   Ass'n,  2  29     1906. 

* •     Examining  and  grading  grains.     N.  Y.,  1907. 

McClure,  W.  F.     New  wheat  center  of  the  world.     Independent,  61 -191-8,  1906. 

McCormick,  Robert.     Memorial  of.     Chicago    1885. 

McCulloch,  J.  R.     Statistical  account  of  the  British  Empire.     L.,  1839. 

•     The  probable  :uture  price  of  wheat.     Bankers'  Mag.,  (L.)  10 :2 13,  1850. 

MacDonald,  James.     Wheat.     Chambers'  Ency.,  n.ed.,  10:625,  1892. 

McDougall,  John.     Indian  wheats.     Jour,  of  Soc.  of  Arts,  37:637,  1889. 

Mackay,  Angus.     Reports  for  Experiment    Farm  for  the  Northwest  Territories, 

1900-02.     Rept.  Can.  Exp.  Farms,  1900-02. 
Macmillan,      n.  s.l  45-52,  1905.     Bread. 

Marcosson,  I.  F.     Harvesting  the  wheat.     World's  Work,  9:5459-77,  1904. 
Marks,  Charles  E.     The  New  York  curb  market.     Sat.  Eve.  Post,  176:36,  1903. 
*Marlatt,  C.  L.     The  principal  insect  enemies  of  growing  wheat.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

Farmers'  Bui.  132,  1901. 

Report  of  acting  entomologist.     Annual  Rept.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  189, 

1902. 

The  annual  loss  occasioned  by  destructive  insects  in  the  United  States. 

Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1904,  p.  461. 

*Marquis,  J.  Clyde.     The  Economic  Significance  of  the  Cereal  Rust  Fungi,  1904. 
(A  thesis  deposited  at  Purdue  University,  La  Fayette,  Ind.    Contains  bibliog- 


Marston,  R.  B.     Our  urgent  need  of  a  reserve  of  wheat.     19th  Cen.,  43 :879,  1898. 
Mason,  Frank  H.     Working  of  the  German  lawagainst  speculation  in  grain.     U.  S. 

Consular  reports,  64:438-444,  1900. 

Masters,  Maxwell  T.     Wheat.     Ency.  Brit.,  24:531,  1888. 

Matson,  C.  H.     The  grain  buyers'  trust.     Review  of  Reviews,  25:201-5,  1902. 
Maxwell,  George  H.      Address  to  National  Association  of    agricultural   implement 

and  vehicle  manufacturers,  1901. 
fMead,  Elwood.     The  use  of  water  in  irrigation.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta., 

Bui.  86,  1899. 

Rise  and  future  ot  irrigation  in  the  United  States.     Yearbook  U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  591,  1899. 

The  scope  and  purpose  of  the  irrigation  investigations  of  the  office  of 

experiment  stations.     Rept.  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  1901. 

Some   typical   reservoirs  in   the   Rocky   Mountain    states.     Yearbook 


U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  415,  1901. 

Review  of  irrigation  investigations  for  1902.     Rept.  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  p. 

359,  1902. 

* Irrigation  institutions.     N.  Y.,  1903. 

The  relation  of  irrigation  to  dry  farming.     Yearbook  U.S.  Dept.  Agr., 

1905,  p.  423. 

tMeans,  Thomas  H.  An  electrical  method  for  determining  the  soluble  salt  content 
of  soils.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui.  8,  1897. 

The  soluble  mineral  matter  of  soils.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p 

495,  1898. 

Field  operations  of.  the   Division  of  Soils.     U.  S.    Dept.   Agr.,  Div.  of 

Soils,  Rept.  64,  1899. 

Crops  used  in  the  reclamation  of  alkali  lands  in  Egypt.     Yearbook 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  573,  1902. 

Merrill,  L.  A.     Arid  farming  in  Utah.     Utah  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  91,  1905. 
Merrill,  L.  H.     The  digestibility  and  nutritive  value  of  bread.      U.  S.  Dept.  Agr 
Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  85,  1900. 

Entire  wheat  flour.     Me.  Agr.  Exp  Sta.,  Bui.  103,  1904. 

Mertens,  Oscar.  Russlands  Bedeutung  fur  den  Weltgetreidemarkt.  Allgemeines 
Statistisches  Archiv.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  153-206,  517-614,  1891-92;  Vol.  Ill,  pp. 
217-273,  1893. 

Metcalf,  H.     Organisms  on  the  surface  of  grain.     Science,  n.s,,  22:439-41,  1905. 


338  THE   BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

Miller,  E.  .  ,     Kansas  wheat  the  oest.  in  the  world.     Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd.  Ajjr. 

Vol.  21,  No.  81,  p.  20    1902. 
*Miller,  Merritt  Finley.     The  evolution  of  reaping  machines.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  103,  1902.     (Bibliography  on  subject,  45  works.) 
Miller,  N.  G.     Variety  tests  of  wheat.     Pa.  State  Col.  Agr.,  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.,  76,  1906. 
Minnesota,  Bureau   of  Labor  Statistics  Rep.  1891-2,    Part  2,  Inventions  in    flour 

making  machinery,  and  the  prices  of  wheat,  flour,  etc. 
Minnesota,  Insurance  commissioners,  annual  report,  1903,  Part  1. 
Minnesota,  Railroad  and  warehouse  commission,  annual  reports,  1902,  1906. 
Montgomery,  E.  G.     Examining  and  grading  grains.     N.  Y.,  1907. 
Monthly  Summary  of  Commerce  and  Finance  of  the  U.S.,  Jan.,  1900.     The  grain 

trade  of  the  United  States  and  the  world's  wheat  supply  and  trade. 
Moore,  George  T.     Bacteria  and  the  nitrogen  problem.     Yearbook  U.  S.   Dept. 

Agr.,  p.  333,  1902. 

Soil  inoculations  for  legumes.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Plant  Indus.,  Bui. 

71,  1905. 

Moorhouse,  L.  A.     Okla.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  65,  1905. 

Moran,  M.  P.     Address.     Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Ass'n,  p.  118,  1900. 
Mortimer,  John.     The  whole  art  of  husbandry.     (2d  ed.)     L.,  1708. 
§Morton,  John  Chalmers.     Cyclopedia  of  agriculture.     Glasgow,  1851-1855. 

The  Fanners'  Calendar.    (6th  ed.)    L.,  1884. 

Morton,  J.  Sterling.     Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States. 

Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1894-96. 
Muller,  Louis.     Our  tariff  in  its  relation  to  the  grain  trade.     Annals  Amer.    Acad. 

of  Pol.  &  Soc.  Sci.,  29:528,  1907. 
Nation,  84:463    1907.     Dollar  Wheat. 
84:469,  1907.     Price  of  wheat. 
National  Association  of  Agricultural  Implement  Manufacturers,  Proceedings  10th 

annual  convention,  in  Farm  Machinery  Daily,  Oct.  23,  1903. 
Nature,  34  629,  1886.     Hybrid  wheat. 

Neftel,  Knight.     Flour  milling.      10th  U.  S.  Cen.,  Vol.  3,  1880. 
Nelson,  Milton  O.     Progress  of  Northwest  Canada.     Northwestern  Miller,   55:35, 

i     1903. 

Nelson,  S.  A.     The  A,  B,  C  of  Wall  Street.  N.  Y.,  1900. 

Nesbit,  Christopher.     Milling  in  Hungary.     Northwestern  Miller,  55:40,  1903. 
*Nettleton,  Edwin  S.     Artesian    and    underflow    investigation.     Sen.    Ex.    Doc., 

1st  sess.,  52d  Cong.,  1891-92,  Vol.  4,  Irriga.     Part  2,  serial  No.  2899. 
Newell,  Frederick  H.     Agriculture  by  irrigation,     llth  U.  S.  Cen.,  1890. 

Irrigation  on  the  Great  Plains.    Yearbook,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  167,  1896. 

Newman,  C.  L.     Wheat  experiments.     Ark.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  62,  1900. 
Newman,  T.  S.     Wheat.     S.  C.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  37,  1898. 

Experiments  with  wheat.     S.  C.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  56,  1900. 

New  York  Produce  Exchange,  reoorts,  1902-1906. 

North  Dakota,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  and  Labor,  report,  1903. 
North  Dakota  Farmers'  Institute  Annual,  Fargo,  1902. 
Noyes,  A.  D.     The  price  of  wheat.     Nation,  63:378,  1896. 

The  scarcity  of  wheat.     Nation,  66:356    1898. 

The  farmer  and  the  wheat  crop.     Nation,  66:417,  1898. 

: —    The  predicted  wheat  famine.     Nation,  67 :237,  1898. 

Options  and  futures,  U.  S.  Senate,  committee  on  the  judiciary,  hearings  authorized 

by  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  March  3,  1892. 
Osborn,  Herbert.     The  Hessian  fly  in  the  United   States.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div. 

Entomol.,  Bui.  16,  n.s.,  1898.     (Bibliography,  147  works.) 
Osborne,  Thomas  B.     The   proteids   of   the   wheat   kernel.     Amer.   Chem.    Jour., 

15:392-471,  1893. 
Paasche,  H.     Getreidezolle.     Handworterbuch   der    Staatswissenschaften,     3:899, 

1892. 

Getreidezolle.     Handworterbuch  der  Staatswissenschaften,  Supplement 

Band,  1:361,  1895. 

Paley,  F.  A.     Waste  in  wheat  crops.     Science,  7:174,  1886. 

Passy,  Frederic.     La  Speculation.     Journal  des  Economistes,  Ser.  6,  4:227-32,  1904. 

Paton,  James.     Baking.     Ency.  Brit.,  9th  ed.,  3:250,  1875. 

Patten,  A.  T.     The  nature  of  the  principal  phosphorus  compound  in  wheat  bran. 

N.  Y.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  250,  1904. 
Payne,  J.  E.     Unirrigated  lands  of  eastern  Colorado.     Col.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta., 

Bui.  77,  1903. 
t Payne,  Will.     A  Day  in  Broking.     Century,  36:340,  1888. 

The  Chicago  Board  of  Trade.     Cen.,  65:745,  1903. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  339 

Penny  Magazine.     L.,  6:386,  1837.     On  the  culture  of  wheat  within  the  tropics. 
Perels,  Emil.     Ueber  die  Bedeutung    des    Maschinenwessens    fur    die    Landwirth* 

schaft.     Berlin,  1867. 
Peter,  A.  M.     Protein  content  of  the  wheat  kernel.     Ky.   Agr.  Exp.   Sta.,  Bui. 

113,  1904. 
Peters,  Edward  T.     Influence  of  rye  on  the  price  of  wheat.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  p.  167,  1900. 
Peterson,  C.  W.     The    wheat-growing    capacities    of    the    Northwest    Territories. 

Canadian  Mag.,  14.137,  1899. 
Peterson,  Leo.     The  Commercial     Review,    Portland,  Ore.,    July   1,    1901;    July 

Pettit,  Rufus  H.     Some  insects  of  the  year  1897.     Mich.  State  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta., 

Bui.  160,  1898. 

Philpot,  T.  H.     The  sacred  tree.     L.,  1897. 

Pickett,  J.  F.     Experiments  with  wheat.     S.  C.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  56,  1900. 
Pieters,  A.  J.     Seed  selling,  seed  growing  and  seed  testing.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  p.  549,  1899. 

Agricultural   seeds — where  grown  and  how  handled.     Yearbook  U.   S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  223,  1901. 

The  business  of  seed  and  plant  introduction.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

1905,  p.  291. 

Plat,  Hugh.     The  jewel  house  of  art  and  nature.     L.,  1653. 
Plumb,  C.  S.     Univ.  of  Tenn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Vol.  Ill,  Bui.  2,  1890. 

The  geographical  distribution  of  cereals  in  North  America.     U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  Div.  of  Biolog.  Sur.,  Bui.  11,  1898. 

Poggi,  T.  Sul  costo  di  Produzione  del  frumento  in  Italia.  Atti  del  R.  Istituto 
Veneto  di  Scienze,  Lettere  ed  Arti,  Tomo  Ivi,  7th  s.,  T.  ix.,  1898. 

Popenoe,  E.  A.  Some  insect  enemies  of  wheat  in  Kansas.  Rept.  Kan.  State  Bd 
Agr.,  Vol.  21.  No.  81,  p.  110,  1902. 

Powers,  Le  Grand.     Crops  and  irrigation.     12th  U.  S.  Cen.,  Vol.  6,  pt.  2,  1900. 

Poynting,  J.  H.     Fluctuations  in  wheat.     Jour.  Roy.  Sta.  Soc.,  47:35,  1884. 

Pusey,  Ph.  Report  on  agricultural  implements.  Jour.  Roy.  Agr.  Soc.,  Vol.  12, 
1st  s.,  p.  587,  1851. 

Quarterly  Review,  L.,  164:445,  1887.     Competition  in  wheat  growing 

Railroad  Gazette,  N.  Y. 

35:715,  1903,  Train  load  and  train  mile  cost. 

722,  The  diversion  of  grain  from  Atlantic  ports. 

760,  Summary  of  the  case  against  the  Erie  Canal  enlargement. 

Rein,  Johannes.  Geographische  und  naturwissenschaftliche  Abhandlungen.  Leip- 
zig, 1892. 

Reports  from  Her  Majesty's  representatives  on  legislative  measures  respecting 
gambling  in  "option"  and  "future"  contracts,  Commercial  No.  5,  1898,  L. 

*Retrospective  exhibit  of  harvesting  machinery  by  the  Deering  Harvester  Company 
in  the  Palace  of  Agriculture;  56th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  Sen.  Doc.  No.  232,  Paris 
Exposition,  1900,  Rept.,  Vol.  3,  Sen.  Docs.,  Vol.  29,  serial  N9-  4057,  p.  456. 

Richardson,  Clifford.  An  investigation  of  the  composition  of  American  wheat  and 
corn.  Reviewed  by  J.  Wrightson  in  Nature,  29:173,  1883. 

What   science   can   teach   about  wheat.     U.   S.    Dept.    Agr.,   Misc. 

Special  Rept.  2,  1883. 

An  investigation  of  the  composition  of  American  wheat  and  corn. 


U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Chem.,  Bui.  4,  1884. 

Report  of  chemist.     Rept.  of  Com.  of  Agr.,  U.  S.,  1884. 


*Riley,  C.  V.  Destructive  locusts.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Entomol.,  Bui.  25,  1891. 
Risser,  A.  K.  Variety  tests  of  wheat.  Pa.  State  Col.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  67,  1904. 
Roberts,  I.  P.  Reaping  and  mowing  machines.  Johnson's  Univ.  Cy.,  7:17,  1895. 
Rogers,  J.  E.  T.  History  of  agriculture  and  prices  in  England,  1259-1582,  Oxford, 

1882. 
Roper,  S.  C.  D.     Production  of  wheat  in  Canada.     Can.  Mag.,  3:468,  1894.  t 

The  wheat  lands  of  Canada.     Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  55:766,  1899. 

Rose,  Joshua.     Agricultural   machinery.     Appleton's   Cy.    of   applied   mechanics, 

1:2,  1880. 
Ross,  D.  W.     Use  of  water  in  irrigation.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  86, 

p.  219,  1899. 
Rubinow,  I.  M.     Russia's  wheat  surplus.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Statis.,  Bui 

42,  1906. 
Saturday  Review,  London: 

57:411,  1884,  The  Indian  wheat  trade. 
478,  Wheat  rings. 


340  THE   BOOK   OF  WHEAT 

58:142,  1884,  Cheap  wheat. 

61:265,  1886,  The  extreme  cheapness  of  wheat. 

64:559,  1887,  The  wheat  crop. 

662,  American  and  Indian  wheat. 

67:  13,  1889,  The  wheat  market. 
87:103,  1899,  The  wheat  question. 
88:286.  1899,  The  wheat  crop. 
Saunders,  Charles  E.     Report  of  the  cerealist.     Can.  Dept.  Agr.,  1904,  1905. 

The  milling  and  chemical  value  of  the  grades  of  wheat  in.  the  Manitoba 

inspection  division  crop  ^  1904.     Can.  Dept.  Agr.,  Cen.  Exp.    Farm,  Bui. 
50,  1905. 

Evidence   before   the   select   standing   committee    on   agriculture   and 

colonization.     Canada,  1904,  1905. 

Results  obtained  in   1905  from  trial  plats  of  grain,  etc.     Can.    Dept, 

Agr.,  Cen.  Exp.  Farm,  Bui.  53,  1905. 
— Some  observations  on  heredity  in  wheat.     Proc.  Amer.  Breeders'  Ass'n, 

1:77,  1905. 

A  natural  hybrid  in  wheat.     Proc.  Amer.  Breeders'  Ass'n,  1 :137,  1905. 

Saunders,  D.  A.     Some  destructive  insects.     S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  81, 

p.  63,  1903. 
tSaunders,  William.     Trials  with  grain.     Can.  Dept.  Agr.,  Cen.  Exp.  Farm,  Buls. 

26,  1897;  29,  1898;  34,  1899;  36,  1900;  39,  1901;  41,  1902;  44,  1903. 
*  ^ Evidence  before  select  standing  committee  on  agriculture  and  coloniza- 
tion.    Canada,  1900,  1902,  1903,  1904,  1905. 
.- Report  of  director  and  acting  agriculturist  of  the  Canada  Experimental 

Farms,  1898  to  1902. 
• Some  results  of  cross-fertilization  and  decrease  in  vitality  of  grain  by 

age.     Ottawa,  1903. 
Wheat  growing  in  Canada.     Toronto,  1904.     Reprint  Canadian  Mag., 

22:561-8,  1904. 
• Results  obtained  in  1905  from  trial  plats  of   grain,  etc.       Can.  Dept. 

Agr.,  Cen.  Exp.  Farm,  Bui.  53,  1905. 
Sayons,  A.  E.     Le  marche  a  terme  en  grains  a  Londres.     Jour,  des  Econ.  5e  s,  T. 

xxxviii.,  p.  78.  1899. 
Scaramelli,  Francois.     Manufacture  of  semolina  and  macaroni.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

Bu.  Plant  Indus.,  Bui.  20,  1902. 
Schrader,  O.     Weizen  und    spelz.     Reallexikon  der  indogermanischen   Altertums- 

kunde,  2:947.     Strassburg,  1901. 
Schulte,  J.  I.     Illustrations  of  the  influence  of  experiment  station  work  on  culture 

of  field  crops.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1905,  p.  407. 
*Schumacher,  H.     Die  Getreideborsen  in  den  vereinigten  Staaten  von  Amerika. 

Jahrbucher  fur  Nationalokonomie  Bd.  66,  1896. 

Schweitzer,  Paul.     Soils  and  fertilizers.     Mo.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta..  Bui.  19,  1892. 
Science,  N.  Y.,  10:253-  314,  1887.     Indian  wheat. 
Scientific  American.  N.  Y. 

Dec.  16,  23    1854,  History  of  reaping  machines. 

July  25,         1896,  Agricultural  machinery. 

Feb.    3,         1900,  An  early  reaping  machine. 

Feb. 24,  83 :53,     1900,  Schweitzer  system  of  bread  making  in  Paris. 

Dec. 23,  93:508,  1905,  Effect  of  colcr°d  light  on  grain. 

June    1,  96:450,  1907,  Our  735,000,000-bushel  wheat  crop. 
Supplement : 

49:20,198,  1900,  Schweitzer  system  of  bread  making  in  Paris. 

57:23,735,  1904,  Experiments  on  wheat. 

61:25,263,  1906,  Bleaching  flour. 

62:25,641,  1906,  Vitrolizing  wheat. 

62:25,897,  1906,  The  agricultural  division  of  the  world. 

63:26,096,  1907.     Castelin  automobile  plow. 
*tScofield,  Carl  S.       Algerian  durum  wheats.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  Plant  Indus., 

Bui.  7,  1902. 
* The  commercial  grading  of  corn.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  Plant  Indus., 

Bui.  41,  1903. 
* The  description  of  wheat  varieties.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  Plant  Indus 

Bui.  47,  1903. 

Accurate  methods  of  grain   grading.     Amer.   Elev.  &  Grain   Trade, 

22:192,  1903. 

Selby,  A.  D.    Some  diseases  of  wheat  and  oats..    O.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  97,  1898. 


BIBLIOGRAPHT  341 

.  uffa*.    Oie  Landwirthschaftliche   Konkurrenz   Nordamerikas  in  Gegen- 

wart  und  Zukunft.     Leipzig,  1887. 
-  Der  Getreidehandel  in  den  vereinigten  Staaten  von  Amerika.     Iland- 

worterbuch  der  Staatswissenschaften,  3:869,  1892. 
Shamel,  A.  D.     The  effect  of  inbreeding  in  plants.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

190S  p.  337. 

Shaw,  G.  W.    Univ.  of  Calif.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Cir.  16,  1905. 
Shaw,  R.  S.     Agricultural  Department.     Kept.  Mont.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  p.  21, 

1902. 


Sheldon,  John  L.     Tubercles  on  legumes  with  and  without  cultures.    Univ.  of 

W.  Va.   Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  105,  1906. 
Shepard,  James  H.    The  artesian  well  waters  of  South  Dakota.    S.  D.  Agr.  Col. 


Va.   Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  105,  1906. 
u,  j'ames  H.     The  artesian  we? 
Exp.  Sta.,  bul.  81,  p.  43,  1903. 

-  Macaroni  wheat.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  pp.  329-336,  1903. 

Macaroni  wheat  and  bread.     S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  92,  1905. 

Macaroni  or  durum  wheats.     S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  99,  1906. 

Shepperd,  J.  H.     Variety  tests  and  changing  seed  wheat.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp. 

Sta.,  Bul.  39,  1898. 

——  •  Wheat  farming  experiments  and  soil  moisture  studies.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col. 

Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  48,  1901. 
•     Agricultural  Department.     Rept.  N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  1901-1903. 

-  Root  systems  of  field  crops.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  64,  1905. 

Rept.  N.  D.  Edgerley  sub.  Exp.  Sta.,  1905. 

Shipley,  Arthur  Everitt.     Insects  injurious  to  wheat.     Ency.  Brit.,  24:534,  1888. 
Shutt,  Frank  T.     Report   of   chemist,    1898   to    1902.     Rept.    Can.   Exp.   Farm, 
1898-1902. 

-  The  milling  and  chemical  value  of  the  grades  of  wheat  in  the  Manitoba 
inspection  division  crop  of  1904.     Can.  Dept.;. Agr.,  Cen.  Exp.  Farm,  Bul. 
50,  1905. 

Skinner,  Frank  C.     Agricultural  machinery.     Ency.  Brit.,  10th  ed.,  1:166,  1902. 
Skinner,  Robert  P.     Manufacture  of  semolina  and  macaroni.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

Bu.  Plant  Indus.,  Bul.  20,  1902. 
Smith,  Adam.     Wealth  of  nations.     L.,  1811. 
Smith,  B.  H.     Formaldehyde:  its  composition  and  uses.    Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept 

Agr.,  1905,  p.  477. 
Smith,  C.  B.     Agricultural  education  in  France.    Yearbook  IT.  S.  Dept.  Agr;,  p. 

115,  1900. 

-  Relation  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  to  the  Farmer. 
Miss.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  80,  p.  25,  1903. 

Smith,  C.  D.     Shrinkage  of  farm  products.    Mich.  State  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul. 

191,  1901. 

Smith,  Charles  W.     Commercial  gambling.     L.,  1893. 
Smith,  Jared  G.     Commercial  plant  introduction.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

p.  131,  1900. 
Smith,  Kingsland.     The  milling  capacity  of  Great  Britain.     Northwestern  Miller, 

v.  55,  No.  1,  p.  49,  1903. 

History  of  flour  milling.     Northwestern  Miller,  Aug.  8, 1906-March  20, 1907. 

Smith,  Rollin  E.     The  mighty  river  of  wheat.     Munsey's  Mag.,  25:17,  1901. 
Smith,  T.  T.  V.     New  wheat  fields  in  the  Northwest.     19th  Cen.,  6:10,  1879. 
Smith,  William  G.     Recent  investigations  on  rust  of  wheat.     Nature,  62  :352,  1900. 
Snow,  B.  W.     Agricultural  progress  and  the  wheat  problem.     Forum,  28:94,  1899. 
fSnyder,  Harry.     Wheat.     Univ.  of  Minn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  29,  1893. 

Humus  in  its  relation  to  soil  fertility.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,    p. 

131     1 SQ  5 

Human  food  investigations.     Univ.  of  Minn .  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  54,  1897. 

• The  proteids  of  wheat  flour.     Univ.  of  Minn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul  .63 ,1899. 

• Studies  on  bread  and  bread  making.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta., 

• Studies  on  bread  and  bread  making.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta., 

Bul    101    1901. 

Wheat  flour  and  bread.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  pp.  347-362,  1903. 

Wheat  and  flour  investigations.     Univ.  of  Minn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  85, 

Soil  investigations.     Univ  of  Minn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bul.  89,  1905;  Bul. 

94    1906 

Cereal  breakfast  foods.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farmers'  Bul.  249,  1906. 

What  science  does  for  farm  crops.     Harper's  Mo.,  115:729,  1907. 

Social  Economist,  N.  Y.  8:201,  1895,  British  wheat  production  under  free  trade. 


342  THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 

Soule,  Andrew  M.  The  influence  of  climate  and  soil  on  the  composition  and  milling 
qualities  of  winter  wheat.  Univ.  Tenn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  V.  16  ,No.  4, 
Oct.,  1903. 

Spectator,  L.     59:1164,  1884,  The  unprecedented  price  of  wheat. 
79:267,  1897,    The  rise  in  wheat. 

Spillman,  W.  J.  Systems  of  farm  management  in  the  United  States.  Yearbook 
U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  343,  1902. 

Stabler,  Edward.     Overlooked  pages  of  reaper  history.     Chicago,  1897. 

Stannard,  J.  D.     Practical  irrigation.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  491,  1900. 

Stedman,  J.  M.     The  Hessian  fly  in  Missouri.     Mo.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  62    1903 

Stevens,  Albert  Clark.     Futures  in  wheat.     Quar.  Jour.  Econ.,  2:37,  1887. 

The  utility  of  speculation.     Pol.  Sci.  Quar.,  7:419,  1892. 

The  world's  wheat  crops  and  the  cause  for  low  prices.     Banker's  Mag. 

(N.Y),  50:782,  1895. 

*Storer,  F.  H.     Agriculture  in  some  of  its  relations  with  chemistry.     N.  Y.,  1887. 
Street,  J.  P.     Protecting  the  farmer  against  fraud.     Rev.  of  Revs.,  35  :213-6,  1907. 
Swift,  R.  B.     Who  invented  the  reaper?     (No  publisher)    1897. 
fSwingle,  Walter  Tennyson.     Treatment  of  smuts  of  oats  and  wheat.     U.  S.  Dept. 
Agr.,  Farmers'  Bui.  5,  1892.     (Bibliography.) 

The  grain  smuts.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  409,  1894.     Also  in 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farmers'  Bui.  75,  1898.* 

Hybrids  and  their  utilization  in  plant  breeding.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept 


Agr.,  p.  383,  1897. 


e  prevention  of  stinking  smut  of  wheat  and  loose  smut  of  oats.     U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  Farmers'  Bui.  250,   1906. 
Tait,  C.  E.     Pumping  plants  in   Texas.     U.   S.  Dept.    Agr.,  Off.    Exp.  Sta.,   Bui. 

158,  1904. 

Taylor,  C.     Insects  destructive  to  wheat.     Harper's  Mag.,  20:38,  1859. 
Teele,  R.  P.     The  organization  ot  irrigation  companies.     Jour.  Pol.  Econ.,  12:61, 

1904. 

Preparing  land  for  irrigation.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1903,  pp.  239- 

250. 

Teller,  G.  L.     Wheat  and  its  mill  products.     Ark.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  42,  1896. 

Progress  of  investigation  in  chemistry  of  wheat.     Ark.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta., 

Bui.  53,  1898. 

Ten  Eyck,  A.  M.     Variety  tests  and  changing  seed  wheat.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp 
Sta.,  Bui.  39,  1898. 

A  study  of  the  root  systems  of  wheat.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui. 

36,  1899. 

Wheat  farming  experiments  and  soil  moisture  studies.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col. 

Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  48,  1901. 

Agricultural  Department.     Rept.  N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  1901-1903. 

Thomas,  John  Jacobs.     Farm  implements  and  the  principles  of  their  construction 

and  use.     L.  &  N.  Y.,  1860. 
Thompson,  C.  W.     Movement  of  wheat  growing.     Quar.  Jour,  of  Econ.,  18:570-84, 

Thompson,  O.  A.     Rept.  N.  D.  Edgerley  sub-Exp.  Sta.,  1905. 
Thompson,  S.  P.     When  wheat  fails.      Harper's  Weekly,  51:874,  1907. 
Thorne,  Charles  E.     Forty  years  of  wheat  culture  in  Ohio.     O.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta., 
Bui.  2d  s.,  V.  4,  No.  8,  art.  12,  1891. 

The  maintenance  of  fertility.     O.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  110,  1899. 


The  Hessian  fly  in  Ohio.     O.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  36,  1902. 


Thornton,  Wm.  Thos.     Agriculture.     Ency.  Brit.,  9th  ed.,  1:291,  1875. 

Thorpe,  T.  B.     Wheat  and  its  associations.      Harper's  Mag.,  15.301,  1857. 

Thun,  Alphons.     Landwirthschaft  und  Gewerbe  in  Mittelrussland  seit  Aufhebbung 

der  Leibeigenschaft.     Leipzig.  1880. 
Tisserand,  E.     An  ideal  department  of  agriculture  and  industries.     Yearbook  U.  S 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  543,  1896. 
Townsend,  Charles  O.     Some  important  wheat  diseases.     Md.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui. 

58,  1898. 

Transactions  of  the  California    State   Agricultural   Society.     Sacramento,  1901. 
Transactions  of  the  New  York  Agricultural   Society.     Albany,    1852,  1855,  1857 

1860,  1866. 
Traphagen,  F.  W.     Department  of  Chemistry.     Rept.  Mont.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta., 

p.  57,  1902. 

Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Association,  Proceedings,  1900,  Fargo. 
*fTrue,  A.  C.     A  brief  account  of  the  experiment  station  movement  in  the  United 

States.    V-  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  1,  p.  73,  1889. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  343 

Education  and  research  in  agriculture  in  the  United  States.     Yearbook 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  81,  1894. 

Agricultural  education  and  research  in  Belgium.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  p.  361,  1896. 

Popular  education  for  the  farmer  in  the  United  States.     Yearbook  U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  279,  1897. 

Agricultural  education  in  the  United  States.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

p.  157,  1899. 

Agricultural  experiment  stations  in  the  United  States.     Yearbook  U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  513,  1899. 

Report  of  the  office  of  experiment  stations,  1902.     Rept.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

p.  241,  1902. 

Work  and  expenditures  of  the  agricultural  experiment  stations.     Rept. 

Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  p.  23,  1902. 

Progress  in  secondary  education  in  agriculture.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  p.  481,  1902. 

Agricultural  experiment  stations  in  foreign  countries.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  112,  1902. 

Tubeuf,  Karl.     Freiherr    von    Pflanzenkrankheiten    durch  kryptogame    Parasiten 

verursacht.     Berlin,  1895. 

*Tull,  Jethro.     The  horse-hoeing  husbandry.     L.,  1822. 
Turner,  R.  J.     Seventh  biennial  report  of  the  commissioner  of    agriculture  and 

labor  of  North  Dakota,  June,  1903. 
Tusser,  Thomas.     Five  hundred  points  of  good  husbandry.     (1st  ed.,  1557).     L., 

1812. 
*Ulrich,  J.  C.     Irrigation  in  the  Rocky   Mountain  states.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off. 

Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  73,  1899. 
Upham,  Warren.     The  glacial  lake  Agassiz.     Monographs  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur.,  V.  25, 

1895. 
Vanatter,  Phares  O.     Influence  of  climate  and  soil  on  the  composition  and  milling 

qualities  of  winter  wheat.     Univ.  Tenn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,   Bui.  V.  16,  No.  4, 

Oct.,  1903. 
Veblen,  T.  B.     The  price  of  wheat  since  1867.     Jour.  Pol.  Econ.,  1 :68,  1892. 

The  food  supply  and  the  price  of  wheat.     Jour.  Pol.  Econ.,  1 :365,  1893. 

Vernon,  J.  J.     Irrigation  investigations  at  New  Mexico  Experiment  Station.     U.S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  of  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  158,  1904. 
Voorhees,  Clark  C.     The  proteids  of  the  wheat  kernel.     Amer.  Chem.  Jour.,  15 :392- 

471,  1893. 
Voorhees,  E.  B.     Commercial  fertilizers.     U.  S.  Dept  ."Agr.,  Farmers'  Bui.  44,1896. 

•     Effect  of  commercial  fertilizers.     Sci.  Am.  S.,  63:25921,  1907. 

Voorhees,  L.  A.     Studies  on  bread  and  bread  making.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp. 

Sta.,  Bui.  67,  1899. 

Waldron,  L.  R.     Weed  studies.     N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  62,  1904. 
Walford,    Cornelius.     Agricultural  insurance.     Ins.    Cy.,    1:43,    1871;    5:272,    461, 

536,  586,  1878. 
Walker,  Francis  A.     Remarks  on  the  statistics  of  agriculture.     10th  U.  S.  Cen. 

Vol.  3,  1880. 
Wallace,  John  R.     Mill  operatives  in  New  Zealand.     Northwestern  Miller,  Vol.  55, 

No.  1,  p.  39,  1903. 

Walsh,  G.  E.     Transportation  of  the  world's  wheat.     Arena  24:516,  1900. 
Waltershausen,  W.     Sartorius  v.  Ueber  den  Sicilianischen  Ackerbau.     Gottingen, 

1863. 

Warner,  G.  T.     Landmarks  in  English  industrial  history.     L.,  (Glasgow),  1899. 
Washburn,  F.  L.     Distribution  of  the  chinch  bug  in  Minnesota.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 

Div.  Entomol.,  Bui.  40,  n.s.,  1903. 

Injurious  insects  of  1903.     Univ.  of  Minn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  84,  1903. 

Washington,  Bureau  of  Statistics,  Agriculture,  and  Immigration,  Rept.  1903. 
Waters,  H.  J.     Wheat,  varieties  and  change  of  seed.     Mo.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta., Bui. 

15,  1891. 
Watson,  G.  C.     Wheat.     Johnson's  Univ.  Cy.,  8:731,  1895. 

Variety  tests  of  wheat.      Pa.  State  Col.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  46,  1899; 

Bui.  55,  1901;  Bui.  67,  1904;  Bui.  76,  1906. 

t  Webber,  Herbert  J.     Hybrids  and  their  utilization  in  plant  breeding.     Yearbook 
U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  383,  1897. 

Improvement  of  plants  by  selection.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  355, 

1898. 

— Progress  of  plant  breeding  'in  the  United  States.    Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 

Agr.,  1899,  p.  465. 


344  THE   BOOK  OF   WHEAT 

.     The  improvement  of  cereals.     Proc.  Tri-State  Grain  Growers'  Ass'n,  p. 

*Webster,  F.  M.     The  chinch  bug.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  Entomol.,  Bui.  15,  n.s., 

• Farm  practice  in  the  control  of    field-crop    insects.      Yearbook  U.  S. 

Dept.  Agr.,  1905,  p.  465. 

The  joint  worm.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Entomol.,  Cir.  66,  1905. 

The  Hessian  fly.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu.  of  Entomol.,  Cir.  70,  1906. 

The  spring  grain-aphis.     U .  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Bu  of  Entomol.,  Cir.  85,  1907. 

Weldon,  W.  F.  R.     Professor  De  Vries  on  the  origin  of  species,  Biometrika,  1 :365, 

1902. 

Whalen  W  H  Wheat  growing  and  dairying  for  North  Dakota.  N.  D.  Agr.  Col. 
Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  8,  1892. 

Wheeler  W  A.  Preliminary  experiments  with  vapor  treatments  for  the  preven- 
tion of  the  stinking  smut  of  wheat.  S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  89,  1904. 

Forage  plants  and  cereals.     S.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  96,  1906. 

Whelpley,  J.  D.     An  international  wheat  corner     Fortnightly  Review,  74:208,  1900. 
White,  H.     The  wheat  crisis.     Nation,  39:259,  1884. 

Wheat  and  cotton.     Nation,  41:544,  1885. 

India  and  America  as  wheat  growers.     Nation,  45  :430,  1887. 

White,  W.  A.     The  business  of  a  wheat  farm.     Scribner's  Mag.,  22:531,  1897. 

t  Whitney,  Milton.  Soils  in  their  relation  to  crop  production.  Yearbook  U.  S. 
Dept.  Agr.,  p.  129,  1894. 

Reasons  for  cultivating  the  soil.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  123, 

1895. 

An  electrical  method  for  determining  the  moisture  content  of  arable' 

soils.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui.  6,  1897. 

• —     An  electrical  method  of  determining  the  temperature  of  soils.     U.  S.. 

Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui.  7,   1897. 

An  electrical  method  of  determining  the  soluble  salt  content  of  soils. 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Div.  of  Soils,  Bui.  8,  1897. 

•     Division  of  Soils.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  122,  1897. 

Field  operations  of  the  Division  of  Soils.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Rept.64, 

1899. 

Soil  investigations  in  the  United  States.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept  Agr.,  p. 

335,  1899. 

The  chemistry  of  the  soil  as  related  to  crop  production.     U.  S.  Dept. 


Agr.,  Bu.  of  Soils,  Bui.  22,  1903. 

Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils.     Rept.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  155,  1902. 

Widtsoe,  John  A.     Arid  farming  in  Utah.     Utah  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  91,  1905. 
*Wiedenfeld,  Kurt.     Getreidehandel.     Handworterbuch  der  Staatswissenschaftcn. 

Supplement  Band,  1:345-357,  1895. 

Getreideproduktion.      Handworterbuch    der    Staatswissenschaften, 


Supplement  Band,  1:357-361,  1895. 

Die  Organisation  des  deutschen  Getreidehandels  und  die  Getreide- 


preisbildung  im  19  Jahrhundert.      Jahrbuch  f.      Gesetzgebung,  Verwaltung 
und  Volkswirthschaft  im  Deutschen  Reich,  Vol.  24,  Heft  II,  s.  165,  1900. 
tWiley,  Harvey  W.     The    economical    aspects   of   agricultural    chemistry.     Proc. 
Amer.  Ass'n  for  Adv.  Sci.   35th  meeting,  p.  125,  1886. 

Mineral  phosphates  as  fertilizers.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dep.  Agr.,  p.  177,  1894. 

Soil  ferments  important  in  agriculture.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p. 

69    1895 

Potash  and  its  function  in  agriculture.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p, 

107,  1896. 
•     Division  of  chemistry.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  76,  1897. 

The  relation  of  chemistry  to  the  progress  of  agriculture.     Yearbook  L .  S 

Dept.  Agr.,  p.  201,  1899. 

Report  of   the  chemist  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

1899-1900,  1901-1902. 

— Flouring  and  grist  mill  products.      12th  U.  S.  Cen.,  Vol.  9,  pt.  3,  1900. 

The  influence   of  environment  on   the   chemical   composition   of  plants 

Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  299,  1901. 

Wilkinson,  J.  Gardner.     A  popular  account  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.     Vol.  1J 

Williams',  C."G.     Experiments  with  winter  wheat.     O.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  165, 

1905. 
Williams,  J.  C.    Wheat  situation  in  the  United  States,     Science,  U.  S.,  21:458-9 

1905. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  345 

Williams    T   R      Production  of  wheat  in  the  United  States.     Hunt's  Merchants' 

Mag.',  12:307,  1845. 
Willis,  H.  Parker.     The   adjustment  of  crop   statistics.     Jour.   Pol.   Econ.,    11:1, 

Wilson,  James.'    Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     Rept.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.. 

*Wilson  T  M  irrigation  laws  of  the  Northwest  Territories  of  Canada  and  of 
Wyoming.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Off.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  96,  1901. 

WIrmin<?haus,  A.  Getreideproduktion.  Handworterbuch  d.  Staatswissenschatten, 
V:893,  1892.  ,  TT  _ 

Woods,  Albert  F.     Water  as  a  factor  in  the  growth  of  plants.     Yearbook  U.  b. 

.    "rVe  present  status  of  the  nitrogen  problem.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr., 

P'  Work  in   vegetable  physiology  and  pathology.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept. 

The  relation  of  plant  physiology  to  the  development  of  agriculture.  Year- 
book U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1904,  p.  119. 

Woods  Chas.  D.  The  digestibility  and  nutritive  value  of  bread.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 
Off  Exp  Sta  Bui.  85,  1900. 

_ Wheat  flour  and  bread.     Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  pp.  347-362,  1903. 

Worst,  J.  H.     Report  of  director.     Rept.  N.  D.  Agr.  Col.  Exp.  Sta.,  p.  9    1903. 

Wrirrhtson  Tohn  Review  of  "An  investigation  of  the  composition  of  American 
wheat  and  corn,"  by  C.  Richardson.  Nature,  29 :1 73,  1883. 

Wheat  production  in  India.     Nature,  32:79,  1885 

Agricultural  machinery.     Brit.  Mfg.  Indus.,  Vol.  10,  Stanford,  1867. 

Entire  wheat  flour.     Me.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bui.  103,  1904. 

Cereal  breakfast  foods.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farm.  Bui.  249,  1906. 

Youatt,  Wm.     The  complete  grazier.      12th  ed.,  p.  706,  L.,  1893 

Young,  Arthur.     Annals  of  agriculture  and  other  useful  arts.     Bury  St.  Edmunds 

Zanitz,  C.  A.     Breeding  cereals.     Proc.  Amer.  Breeders'  Ass'n,  2:118,  1906 
Zeitschrift  fur  Volkswirthschaft,  Socialoolitik  und  Verwaltung,  Wien  and  Leipzig. 
8:276,  1899,  Getreidepreise  und  Getreidezolle,  Gustav  Lippert. 

ENCYCLOPEDIAS   AND   DICTIONARIES 

American  Cyclopedia,     1 :314,  1873,  Aliment  or  food. 
10:767,  1875,  Macaroni. 

12:  16,  1875,  Mowing  and  reaping  machines.     A.  Arnold. 
15:413,  1875,  Straw. 
16:585,  1875,  Wheat. 

American  Mechanical  Dictionary,  3:1888,  1876,  Reaper.     E   H.  Knight. 
Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  Applied  Mechanics,   1:2,   1880,  Agricultural  Machinery. 

J.  Rose. 

Chamber's  Encyclopedia,    6:762,  1892,  Macaroni. 
8:595,  1892,  Reaping. 
9:765,  1892,  Straw. 
10:625,  1892,  Wheat.     J.  MacDonald. 

Encyclopedia  Britannica,  *  1:291,  1875,  Agriculture.     W.  T.  Thornton. 
Ninth  Edition. 

3:250,  1875,  Baking.     J.  Paton. 
9:343,  1879,  Manufacture  of  Flour.    J.  Paton. 
14-565    1882,  Justus  Leibig.     A.  Crum  Brown. 
24':53l!  1888,  Wheat.     M.  T.  Masters. 
24:534,  1888,  Insects  injurious  to  wheat.    A.  E.  Shipley. 
Tenth  Edition,         *  1:166,  1902,  Agricultural  machinerv.    F.  C.  Skinner. 

*  1:178,  1902,  Agriculture: United  Kingdom.    W.  Fream 

*  1:209,  1902,  Agriculture:  United  State-.  C.  W.  Dabney 
Insurance  Cyclopedia,  1:43,  1871;  5:272,  461,  536,  586,  187 8, Agricultural  Insurance. 

C.  Walford. 

International  Encyclopedia,  15:465,  1893,  Wheat. 
Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopedia,  1:784,  1893,  Bread 
3:433,  1894,  Flour. 
5:416,  1894,  Macaroni. 
7:  17,  1895,  Reaping  and  Mowing  Machines.     I. P. 

Roberts. 
8:731.  1895.  Wheat.     G.  C.  Watson. 


346  THE  BOOK  OF   WHEAT 

KnighKnighI  Mechanical   Dictionary,   p.    743,    1884,  Reaping  Machine.     E.  I 
New  International  Encyclopedia,  3:377,  1902,  Bread 
7:516,  1903,  Flour.' 

Reallexikonderlndo  ermat  ischen'^*'  '**'  Maclroni^11  HarV6Sting- 

O.  Schrader.  en        ertumskunde,  2:947,  1901.  Weizen  und  Spelz 


OFFICIAL    PUBLICATIONS 
UNITED  STATES  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICTTITTTPT? 
Annual  Report,  p.  332,  1847,  OnRwheat.  tobacco,  SffSE'S  cultivated  on  the 

3%  It?!;  ^eMtK  Ja^aT  B°Uman' 

1,1902,  Report  of  the      Secretary      of     Agriculture.     Jame, 
155,  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Soils.     M.  Whitney 

189,  Report  of  acting  entomologist.-C.  L  Marlatt 

241,  RePgrt  of    the    Office    of    the'  Experiment  '  Stations 

Bureau  of  -Chemistry: 

|SS  ol  ^ml^  nicte™er  of  Asri™" 

°f 

u*^;  jsdf-—  -  -  —  - 

Bui.     3    1901,  Macaroni  wheats.     M    A    Carleton 
Report  of  Chief,  1901-1902,     B.  T   GaUowaV 

ay' 


20      90?'  Whea-ts-      C'  S-  Scofield. 

:     : 


:     : 

0,  '^.h-m-  of  durum   wheat.     M.  A.  Carieton. 


7?    icnf'  ^i1  .moc.culations  for  legumes.     G   T   Moore 

'      °5'  PaiST   °f  Whe"   in   pem—  '   &&   fle!dS.     David 
««  1905,  ta^vm^the  quality  of  wheat.     T.  L.  Lyon.  (BWio^phy 


Division  of  iiolo.  Su™ya'"y  °f  buried  seed       J-  W-  T.  Duvel. 

iul.  11.  1898.  The  ^eog^phical  distribution  of   cereals  in  North  America. 

Division  of  Bo'tanT'  F°°d  °'  the  lx>bolink'  Blackbirds  and  grackles.     F.  E.  L.  Beal 
Cir1'  "i   \ili-  Sf  R«^n  th^e.     L.  H.  Dew 

'         6'GtaHdafficSks     th°  PUrity  and  Vh^  °f  agricultural  seeds. 

"  ^^  1% 


-n  the  Hnited  State, 
Division 


25'  ioi  '  n  -        '      -      ^ard 

5  28'  5ISJ1  ^struc^ve  locusts.     C.  V.  Rilev. 
§  28,  1893,  The  more  destructive  locusts  of  America  north  of  Mexico. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  347 

13    1898  Recent  laws  against  injurious  insects  in   North   America. 

'  L.  O.  Howard. 

IS    1898,  The  chinch  bug.     F.  M.  Webster. 
16*  1898  The  Hessian  fly  in  the  United  States      H   Osborn. 
Report  of  Acting  Entomologist,  1902.     C   L.  Marlatt 
Bui.  40,  1903,  The   distribution  of  the  chinch  bug  in  Minnesota.     X.  L,. 

Injurious  insects  of  the  year  in  Canada.     J.  Fletcher. 

46,  1904,  Proceedings  of  the  16th  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  ot 

'  Economic  Entomologists.  .         f 

52    1905,  Proceedings  of  the  17th  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  of 

Economic  Entomologists.  .  ,. 

60,  1906,  Proceedings  of  the  18th  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  ot 

'  Economic  Entomologists. 

Cir     66    1905,  The  joint  worm.     F.  M.  Webster. 
'    70    1906   The  Hessian  fly.     F   M.  Webster 

85    1907,  The  spring  gram-aphis.     F.  M.  Webster. 

c/the  United 'sites  Department  of  Agricdfcn*    C.  II 


Greathouse. 

Division  of  Soils^        Methodg  of  the  mechanical  analysis  of  soils  and  the  determi- 
nation of  the  amount  of  moisture  in  soils  in  the  field. 

5  1896   Texture  of  some  important  soil  formations. 

6  1897'  An  electrical  method  of  determining  the  moisture  content  of 

arable  soils.     M.  Whitney,  F.  D.  Gardner,  etc. 
7,  1897,  An  electrical  method  of  determining  the  temperature  of  soils. 

8    1897   An  electrical  method^Fdetermining  the  soluble  soil  content 

'  of  soils.     M.  Whitney,  T.  H.  Means  . 

10    1897   The  mechanics  of  soil  moisture.     L,.  J .  tiriggs.  _ 

12,  1898,  The   electrical  method  of  moisture  determination  in   sods. 

Report  No!' 64',  1 899  "Field   operations  of  the  Division   of  Soils.     M. 

Whitney,  T.  H.  Means,  etc. 
Bui    15    1899   Electrical  instruments  for  determining  the  moistxire,  temper 

ature  and  soluble  salt  content  of  soils.     L.  J.  Briggs. 
T?  »T^r>rt  nf  Chief  of  Bureau    1902.     M.Whitney. 
Bu?   22    1903   The  chemistry  of   the    soil   as   related   to   crop   production. 

'  M.  Whitney,  F.  K.  Cameron. 
Division  of  ^^^l^fSliges  for  ocean  transportation  of  the  products  of 

'  agriculture. 

13    1898  The  fertilizer  industry.     J.Hyde. 
18,  1901,  The  course  of  prices    of    farm    implements    and    machinery 

20,  1901,  Wheat  growing  and  general  agricultural  conditions .in  the 
Pacific  coast  region  of  the  United  States.     E.  b.  Holmes,  jr. 
Division  of  Statistics: 


38,  1905,  Crop  export  movement  and  po: 

Gulf  coasts.     Frank  Andrews 
42    1906   Russia's  wheat  surplus.     I.  M.  Rubmow. 

Division  of  Vegetable  Physiology  and  Pathology:  r*r1eton 

Bui.  16,   1899,  Cereal  rust  of  the  United  States.     M.  A.  Carleton. 

24,  1900,  The  basis  of  the  improvement  of  American  wheats.     M.  A. 

Carleton. 

29    1901,  Plant  breeding.     W.  M.  Hays. 
Report  of  Chief,  1900.     B.  T.  Galloway. 

Farmers'  Bulletins:     Treatment  of  smuts  of  oats  and  wheat.     W.  T.  Swingle. 
'     10*  1893,  The  Russian  thistle.     L.  H.  Dewey. 
21*.  1894,  Barnyard  manure.     W.  H.  Beal. 
22    1895,  The  feeding  of  farm  animals      E   W   Allen. 
44    1896,  Commercial  fertilizers.     E.  B.  Voorhees 
45*  1897    Some  insects  injurious  to  stored  grain.     F.  H.  Chittenden. 


FEE  BOOK  OF  [WHEAT! 

46,  1896,  Irrigation  in  humid  climates.     F.  H. 

56,  1897,  Experiment  station  work,  I. 

75,  1898,  The  grain  smuts.     W.  T.  Swingle. 

79,  1898,  Experiment  station  work,  VI. 
105,  1899,  Experiment  station  work,  XII. 

112,  1900,  Bread  and  the  principles  of  bread-making.  Helen  W.  Atwater. 
132,  1901,  The  principal  insect  enemies  of  growing  wheat.  C.  L.  Marlatt. 
186,  1904,  Experiment  station  work,  XXIII. 

219,  1905,  Losses  from  the  grain  rust  epidemic  of  1904.    M.  A.  Carleton. 
233,  1905,  Experiment  station  work,  XXXI. 
237,  1905,  Experiment  station  work,  XXXII. 

249,  1906,  Cereal  breakfast  foods.     C.  D.  Woods,  H.  Snyder. 

250,  1906,  The  prevention  of  stinking  smut  of  wheat  and  loose  smut  of 

oats.     W.  T.  Swingle. 

251,  1906,  Experiment  station  work,  XXXIV. 
Office  of  Experiment  Stations: 

Bui.       1,  1889,  Organization   of  agricultural   experiment   stations  in   the 

United  States. 
11,  1892. 
67,  1899,  Studies  on  bread  and  bread  making.     H.  Snyder  and  L.  A. 

Voorhees. 

73,  1899,  Irrigation  in  the  Rocky  M9untain  states.     J.  C.  Ulrich.l 
86,  1899,  The  use  of  water  in  irrigation.     E.  Mead,  C.  T.  Johnson,  etc. 
81,  1900,  The  use  of  water  in  irrigation  in  Wyoming.     B.  C.  Buffum. 
85,  1900,  The  digestibility  and  nutritive  value  of  bread.     C.  D.  Woods, 

L.  H.  Merrill. 
96,  1901,  Irrigation  laws  of  the  Northwest  Territories  of  Canada  and 

of  Wyoming.     J.  S.  Dennis,  Fred  Bond,  etc. 
101,  1900,  Studies  on  bread  and  bread  making.     H.  Snyder. 
Report,  1901,  including  "The  scope  and  purpose  of  irrigation  investigations 

of  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations,"  by  E.  Mead. 
Bui.  103,  1902,  The  evolution  of  reaping  machines.     F.  M.  Miller. 

112,  1902,  Agricultural  Experiment  Stations  in  foreign  countries.     A.  C. 

True,  D.  J.  Crosby. 

Report  of  the  Director,  1902.     A.  C.  True. 
Annual  Report,  1902.     A.  C.  True,  D.  J.  Crosby,  E.  Mead. 
Experiment  Station  Record,  Vol.  II.,  No.  12;  Vol.  XIV.,  No.  11,  1903. 
Bui.  158,  1905,  Irrigation,  and  drainage  investigations,  1904.    J.  J.  Vernon, 

Harvey  Culbertson,  C.  E.  Tait. 

Bui.  164,  1906,  Proceedings  of  the  19th  annual  convention  of  the  Association 
of  American  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experiment  Stations. 
*Senate  Executive  Documents,  1st  Session,  52d  Congress,  1891-92: 
Vol.  4,  Irrigation,  Parts  1-4,  serial  No.  2899. 
Part     I,  Report  on  Irrigation.  J.  R.  Hinton. 

Facts  and  conditions  relating  to  irrigation  in  various  countries 
p.  377.     J  R.  Hinton.  >        i 

II,  Artesian  and  underflow  investigation.     E.  S.  Nettleton. 
Ill,  Final  geological  reports  of  the  artesian  and  underflow  investigation 
between  the  97th  meridian  pf  longitude  and  the  foothills  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.     R.  Hay. 

Report  of  the  mid-plains  division.     J.  W.  Gregory,  F.  F.  B.  Coffin. 
Special  Reports: 

No.  40,  1882,  Conditions  and  needs  of  spring  wheat  culture  in  the  North- 
west.    C.  C.  Andrews. 

Miscellaneous,  No.  2,  1883,  What  science  can  teach  about  wheat.     C.  Rich- 
ardson. 
Yearbook  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture: 

1894,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  S.  Morton,  p.  9. 

Education  and  research  in  argiculture  in  the  United  States.     A.  C. 

True,  p.  81. 

Soils  in  their  relation  to  crop  production.     M.  Whitney,  p.  129. 

Water  as  a  factor  in  the  growth  of  plants.     B.  T.  Galloway,  A.  F. 

Woods,  p.  165. 

Mineral  phosphates  as  fertilizers.     H.  W.  Wiley,  p.  177. 

The  most  important  insects  injurious  to  stored  grain.     F.  H.  Chitten- 

den,  p.  277. 

The  grain  smuts:  Their  causes  and  prevention.    W.  T.  Swingle,  p.  409. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  349 

1895,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  S.  Morton,  p.  9. 
Soil  ferments  important  in  agriculture.     H.  W.  Wiley,  p.  69. 
Reasons  for  cultivating  the  soil.     M.  Whitney,  p.  123. 
Humus  in  its  relation  to  soil  fertility.     H.  Snyder,  p.  131. 

1896,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  S.  Morton,  p.  9. 
Potash  and  its  function  in  agriculture.     H.  W.  Wiley,  p.  107. 
Irrigation  on  the  Great  Plains.     F.  H.  Newell,  p.  167. 
Migration  of  weeds.     L.  H.  Dewey,  p.  263. 

The  superior  value  of  large,  heavy  seed.     G.  H.  Hicks,  J.  C.  Dabney, 

p.  305. 

Agricultural  education  and  research  in  Belgium.     A.  C.  True,  p.  361. 

Improvement  in  wheat  culture.     M.  A.  Carleton,  p.  489. 

An  ideal  department  of  agriculture  and  industries.     E.  Tisserand, 

p.  543. 

1897,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  Wilson,  p.  9. 
Division  of  Chemistry.     H.  W.  Wiley,  p.  76. 
Division  of  Botany.     F.  G.  Coville,  p.  90. 

Division  of  Vegetable  Physiology  and    Pathology.     B.   T.    Galloway, 

p.  99. 

Division  of  Soils.     M.  Whitney,  p,  122. 

Division  of  Statistics.     J.  Hyde,  p.  258. 

Popular  education  for  the  farmer  in  the  United  States.     A.  C.  True, 

6,  279. 
very  farm  an  experiment  station.     E.  E.  Ewell,  p.  291. 
Birds  that  injure  grain.     F.  E.  L.  Beal,  p.  345. 

Hybrids  and   their  utilization  in  plant  breeding.     W.  T.   Swingle, 
H.  J.  Webber,  p.  383. 
Danger  of  importing  insect  pests.     L.  O.  Howard,  p.  529. 

1898,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  Wilson,  p.  9. 
Birds  as  weed  destroyers.     S.  D.  Judd,  p.  221. 

Work  in  Vegetable  Physiology  and  Pathology.     A.  F.  Woods,  p.  261. 
Improvement  of  plants  by  selection.     H.  J.  Webber,  p.  355. 
The  movement  and  retention  of  water  in  the  soils.     L.  J .  Briggs,  p.  399. 
The  soluble  mineral  matter  of  soils.     T.  H.  Means,  p.  495. 

1899,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  Wilson,  p.  9. 

Work  of  the  meteorologist  for  the  benefit  of  agricultural  commerce 
and  navigation.     F.  H.  Bigelow,  p.  71 

Progress  in  economic  entomology  in  the  United  States.     L.  O.  How- 
ard, p.  135. 

Agricultural  education  in  the  United  States.     A.  C.  True,  p.  157. 
Progress  in  the  treatment  of  plant  diseases  in  the  United  States.     B.  T. 
Galloway,  p.  191. 

The  relation  of  chemistry  to  the  progress  of  agriculture.     H.  W.  Wiley, 
p.  201. 

Progress  of  agriculture  in  the  United  States.     G.  K.  Holmes,  p.  307. 
Soil  investigations  in  the  United  States.     M.  Whitney,  p.  335. 
Progress  of  plant  breeding  in  the  United  States.     H.  J.  Webber,  E.  A 
Bessey,  p.  465. 

Development  of  agricultural  libraries.     C.  H.  Greathouse,  p.  491. 
Agricultural  experiment  stations  in,  the  United  States.     A.  C.  True, 
513. 

selling,  seed  growing  and  seed  testing.     A.  J;  Pieters,  p.  549. 
Rise  and  future  of  irrigation  in  the  United  States.     E.  Mead,  p.  591. 

1900,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  Wilson,  p.  9. 
Agricultiiral  education  in  France.     C.  B.  Smith,  p.  115.  , 
Commercial  plant  introduction.     J.  G.  Smith,  p.  131. 
Influence  of  rve  on  the  price  of  wheat.     E.  T.  Peters,  p.  167. 

Hot  waves:    Conditions  which  produce  them  and  their  effect  on  agri- 
culture.    A.  T.  Burrows,  p.  325. 

Objects  and  methods  of  investigation  of  certain  physical  properties  of 
soils.     L.  J.  Briggs,  p.  397. 

Practical  irrigation.     C.  T.  Johnston,  etc.,  p.  491. 
Successful  wheat  growing  in  semi-arid  districts.     M.  A.  Carleton,  p. 529. 

1901,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.      T.  Wilson,  p.  9. 
Progress  in  plant  and  animal  breeding.     W.  M.  Hays,  p.  217. 
Agricultural  seeds — where  grown  and  how  handled.     A.  J.  Pieters, 
p.  233. 

Influence  of  environment  on  the  chemical  composition  of  plants. 


p.  51 
Seed 


350  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 

H.W.Wiley,- p.- 299. 

Some  typical  reservoirs  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  states.     E.    Mead, 

6415. 
xperimental   work  with  fungous  diseases  of  grasshoppers.     L.    O. 
Howard,  p.  459. 
Wheat  ports  on  the  Pacific  coast.     E.  S.  Holmes,  Jr.,  p.  567. 

1902,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  Wilson,  p.  9. 
Industrial  progress  in  plant  work.     B.  T.  Galloway,  p.  219. 
Some  engineering  features  of  drainage.     C.  G.  Elliott,  p.  231. 
Analysis  of  waters  and  interpretation  of  results.     J.  K.  Haywood, 
p.  283. 

Bacteria  and  the  nitrogen  problem.     G.  T.  Moore,  p.  333. 
Systems  of  farm  management  in  the  United  States.     W.  J.  Spillman, 
p.  343. 

Progress  in  secondary  education  in  agriculture.     A.  C.  True,  p.  481. 
Practices  in  crop  rotation.     G.  K.  Holmes,  p.  519. 
Crops  used  in  the  reclamation  of  alkali  lands  in  Egypt.     T.  H.  Kear- 
ney, T.  H.  Means,  p.  573. 

Some  practical  results  of  experiment  station  work.     W.  H.  Beal,  p. 589. 
Rainfall  and  irrigation.     E.  A.  Beals,  p.  627. 

1903,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     J.  Wlson,  p.  9. 
The  farmers'  institutes.     John  Hamilton,  p.  109. 

Some  results  of  investigations  in  soil  management.     F.  H.  King,  p.  159. 

Preparing  land  for  irrigation.      R.  P.  Teele,  p.  239. 

Macaroni  wheat      J.  H.  Shepard,  p.  329. 

Wheat  for  bre<«u     Harry  Snyder,  C.  D.  Wood,  p.  347. 

Some  soil  problems  for  practical  farmers.     E.  C.  Chilcott,  p.  441. 

1904,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  p.  9. 

The  relation  of  plant  physiology  to  the  development  of  agriculture. 
A.  F.  Woods,  p.  119. 

Agricultural  development  in  Argentina.     F.  W.  Bicknell,  p.  271. 
The  annual  loss  occasioned  by  destructive  insects  in  the  United  States. 

C.  L.  Marlatt,  p.  461. 

State  publications  on  agriculture.     C.  H.  Greathouse,  p.  52,1. 

1905,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  p.  9. 

Some  ways  in  which  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  Experi- 
ment Stati9n  supplement  each  other.     E.  W.  Allen,  p.  167. 
The  use  of  illustrative  material  in  teaching  agriculture  in  rural  schools. 

D.  J.  Crosby,  p.  257. 

The  business  of  seed  and  plant  introduction.     A.  J.  Pieters,  p.  291 

The  effect  of  inbreeding  in  plants.     A.  D.  Shamel,  p.  377. 

Illustrations  of  the  influence  of  experiment  station  work  on  culture  of 

field  crops.     J.  I.  Schulte,  p.  407. 

The  relation  of  irrigation  to  dry  farming.     Elwood  Mead,  p.  423. 

Farm  practice  in  the  control  of  field-crop  insects.      F.  M.  Webster, 

p.  465. 

Formaldehyde:  Its  composition  and  uses.     B.  H.  Smith,  p.  477. 

1906,  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  p.  9. 

The  present  status  of  the  nitrogen  problem,  p.  125. 

The  use  of  soil  surveys,  p.  181. 

The  effect  of  climatic  conditions  on  the  composition  of  durum  wheat, 

p.  199. 

UNITED  STATES  CENSUS 

8th,  1860,  Agriculture. 
9th,  1870,  Vol.  3. 
10th,  1880,  2,  Statistics  of  manufacturers. 

Manufactures  in   interchangeable  mechanism;  VII,   Agricultural 
implements.     C.  H.  Fitch. 

3,  Remarks  on  the  statistics  of  agriculture.     F.  A.  Walker. 
General  statistics — tabular  statements. 
Cereal  production.     W.  H.  Brewer. 
Flour  milling.     K.  Neftel. 
llth,  1890,  Part  1,  Fire  insurance.     T.  A.  Jenny. 

Manufacturing  industries  in  the  United  States. 
Statistics  of  agriculture.     J.  Hyde. 
Agriculture  by  irrigation.     F.  H.  Newell. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  351 

12th    1900,  Vol.  6,  Part  2,  Crops  and  irrigation.     Le  Grand  Powers. 

9,  3,  Flouring  and  gristmill  products.     H.  W.  Wiley. 

10,  4,  Agricultural  implements     J.  D.  Lewis. 

Patent  growth  of  the  industrial  art.     S.  B.  Ladd. 

UNITED    STATES    DEPARTMENT    OF    COMMERCE    AND    LABOR 

Bureau  of  Manufactures,  Tariff  Series  No.  2,  1907. 

UNITED    STATES    CONSULAR    REPORTS 

49:460,  1895,  Transportation  of  wheat  in  the  Argentine  Republic.     W.  E.  Baker. 
Daily  Reports: 

1903,  Agricultural  implements  in  foreign  countries.     Nos.  1743,  1745,  1747, 
1750,1752,  1753,  1754,  1757,  1763,  1764,  1768,  1782. 
Macaroni  wheat  in  foreign  countries.     Nos.  1796,  1808,  1820,  1838. 
64:438-444,  1900,  Working  of  the  German  law  against  speculation  in  grain.     F.  H. 
Mason. 

EXPERIMENT    STATION    PUBLICATIONS 

Experiment  Stations: 

Alaska:     Annual  Report,  1904.     C.  C.  Georgeson. 

Arizona:     Timely  hints  for  farmers,  No.  20,  1900. 

Annual  report,  1901,  1905. 

Irrigation  at  the  station  farms,  1898,  1901,  1902. 
Arkansas:     Bui.  29,  1894,  Wheat  experiments.     R.  L.  Bennett. 

42,  1896,  Concerning  wheat  and  its  mill  products.     G.  L.  Teller. 
53,  1898,  Progress  of  investigation  in  chemistry  of  wheat.     G.  L. 

Teller. 

62,  1900,  Wheat  experiments.     C.  L.  Newman. 

California:     Bui.  133,  1901,  Tolerance  of  alkali  by  various  cultures.     R.  H.  Lough- 
ridge. 

Circular  16,  1905. 

Colorado:     Bui.  77,  1903   Unirrigated  lands  of  eastern  Colorado,     f.  E.  Payne. 
Illinois:     Bui.  8.8,  1903.  Soil  treatment  for  wheat  in  rotations,  etc.    "C.  G.  Hopkins. 
Circular  97,  1905,  Soil  treatment  for  wheat  on  the  poorer  lands  of  the 
Illinois  wheat  belt.     C.  G.  Hopkins. 
Indiana:     Bui.  26,  1889,  Wheat  rust.     H.  L.  Bolley. 

41,  1892,  Field  experiments  with  wheat.     W.  C.  Latta. 
Forms  of  nitrogen  for  wheat.     H.  A.  Huston. 
114,  1906i  Winter  wheat. 

Kansas:  Bui.  20,  1891,  Experiments  with  wheat.  C.  C.  Georgeson. 
33,  1892,  Experiments  with  wheat.  C.  C.  Georgeson. 
40,  1893,  Experiments  with  wheat.  C.  C.  Georgeson. 
59,  1896.  Experiments  with  wheat.  C.  C.  Georgeson. 
38,  1893,  Preliminary  Report  on  rusts  of  grain.  A.  S.  Hitchcock. 

M.  A.  Carleton. 
99,  1900,  Prevention  of  grain  smuts.     A.  S.  Hitchcock. 

Botanical  notes  on  wheat  and  spelt.     A.  S.  Hitchcock. 
Kentucky:     Bui.  30,  1890,  A  new  wheat  fly.     H.  Garman. 

57,  1895,  Wheat  experiments. 

77,  1898,  Red  rust  of  wheat.     H.  Garman. 
83,  1899,  Wheat. 
89,  1900,  Wheat. 
113.  1904,  Protein  content  of  the  wheat  kernel.     J.  N.  Harper. 

A.  M.  Peter. 

Louisiana:     North  Report,  1901.     D.  N.  Barrow. 

Maine:     Bui.  103.  1904,  Entire  wheat  flour.     C.  D.  Woods,  L.  H.  Merrill. 
Maryland:     Bui.  56,  1898,  Wheat  and  lime  experiments. 

58,  1898,  The  Hessian  fly  in  Maryland.     W.  G.  Johnson. 

Some  important  wheat  diseases.     C.  O.  Townsend. 
14,  1891,  Wheat.     A.  I.  Hayward. 

Michigan*     Bui.  101,  1893,  Composition  of  wheat  and  straw.     R.  C.  Kedzie. 
160,  1898,  Some  insects  of  the  year  1897.     R.  H.  Pettit. 
191,  1901,  Shrinkage  of  farm  products.     C.  D.  Smith. 

218,  1904,  Some  essential  soil  changes  produced  by  micro-organ- 

isms.    S.  F.  Edwards. 

219,  1904,  Soil     moisture,     its    importance     and     management, 

J.  A.  Jeffery. 


352  THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT1 

Minnesota!     Bui.  29,  1893,  Wheat.     Harry  Snyder. 

33,  1894,  The  Russian  Thistle  or  Russian  tumble  weed.     W.  M. 

Hays. 

40,  1894,  Grain  and  forage  crops.     W.  M.  Hays. 
46,  1895,  Grain  and  forage  crops.     W.  M.  Hays. 
50,  1896,  Grain  and  forage  crops.     W.  M.  Hays  and  others. 
54,  1897,  Human  food  investigations.     Harry  Snyder. 

62,  1899  Wheat,    varieties,    breeding    and    cultivation.     W.    I.I. 

Hays,  A.  Boss.^ 

63,  1899,  The"  proteids  of  wheat  flour.     Harry  Snyder. 
Class   Bui.     8,  1900,  Minnesota  No.  163  wheat.     W.  M.  Hays,  A.  Boss. 
Press  Bui.  17,  1903,  Winter  wheat  in  Minnesota.     W.  M.  Hays. 

24,  Seed  grain. 

Bui.  84,  1903,  Injurious  insects  of  1903.     F.  L.  Washburn. 

85,  1904,  Wheat  and  flour  investigations.     Harry  Snyder. 
89,  1905,  Soil  investigations.     Harry  Snyder,  J.  A.  Hummel. 
94,  1906,  Soil  investigations.      Harry  Snyder. 
Mississippi:     Bui.  66,  1901,  Soils  of  Mississippi.     W.  L.  Hutchinson.  . 

77,  1902,  Analyses  of  commercial  fertilizers.     W.  L.  Hutchinson. 
Annual  Report,  1902. 

Bui.  80,  1903,  Farmers'  Institute  Bulletin,  1902. 

Missouri:     Bui.  15,  1891, 'Wheat  varieties  and  change  of  seed.     H.  J.  Waters. 
19,  1892,  Soils  and  fertilizers.     P.  Schweitzer. 
21,  1893,  Field  experiments  with  wheat.     C.  M.  Conner. 
62,  1903,  The  Hessian  fly  in  Missouri.     J.  M.  Stedman. 
Montana:     Annual  Report,  1902. 
Nebraska:    Bui.  32,  Vol.     6,  Art.  6,  1894,  Wheat  and  some  of  its  products.     C.  L. 

Ingersoll,  C.  E.  Bessey. 
72,  14,         2,  1902,  The    adaptation    and    improvement    of 

winter  wheat.     T.  L.  Lyon. 

89,  17,  5,  1905,  Winter      wheat — co-operative      experi- 

ments with  the  U.  S.  Dept  of  Agr.    T.  L. 
Lyon,  A.  Keyser. 

New  Mexico:     Bui.  6,  1892,  Cereals.     A.  E.'  Blount. 

New  York;  Bui.  194,  1901,  The  Hessian  fly  and  its  ravages  in  New  York. 
216,  1904. 
250,  1904,  The  nature  of  the  principal  phosphorus  compounds  in 

wheat  bran.     A.  J.  Patten,  E.  B.  Hart. 
256,  1904,  Seed    selection   according   to    specific   gravity.     V.  A. 

Clark. 
North  Dakota:    Bui.    8,  1892,  Wheat   growing  and   dairying  for  North   Dakota. 

E.  F.  Ladd,  W.  H.  Whalen. 

10,  1893,  Grain  and  forage  crops.     W.  M.  Hays. 
17,  1895,  Effect  of  seed  exchange  upon  the  culture  of  wheat. 

H.  L.  Bolley. 

19,  1895   Treatment  of  smut  and  wheat.     H.  L.  Bolley. 
24,  1896,  North  Dakota  soils.     E.  F.  Ladd. 
27,  1897,  New   stxidies  upon  the  smut  of  wheat,   oats  and 

barley,  etc.     H.  L.  Bolley. 
39,  1898,  Variety   tests    and    changing    seed    wheat.     J.    H. 

Shepperd,     A.  M.  Ten  Eyck. 

36,  1899    A  study  of  the  root  systems  of  wheat,  etc.     A.  M. 
Ten  Eyck. 

47,  1901,  Humus  and  soil  nitrogen  and  climatic  studies  with 

wheat.     E.  F.  Ladd. 

48,  1901,  Wheat    farming    experiments    and    soil    moisture 

studies.     J.  H.  Shepperd,  A.  M.  Ten  Eyck. 
Annual  Renorts,  1901-1905. 
Bui.  60,  1904,  Analysis  of  formaldehyde  sold  in  North  Dakota. 

E.  F.  Ladd. 

62,  1904,  Weed  studies.     L.  R.  Waldron. 
64,  1905,  Root  systems  of  field  crops.     J.  H.  Shepperd. 
68,  1906.  Rust  problems.     H.  L.  Bolley,     F.  J.  Pritrhard. 
Ohio:     Bui.  2d  Ser.,  Vol.  4,  No.  8,  Art.  12,  1891,  Forty  years  of  wheat  culture  in 

Ohio.     C.  E.  Thorne. 

82,  1897,  Field  experiments  with  wheat.     J.  F.  Hickman. 
97,  1898,  Some  diseases  of  wheat  and  oats.     A.  D.  Selby. 
110,  1899,  The  maintenance  of  fertility.     C.  E.  Thorne. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  353 

129,  1901,  Field  experiments  with  wheat.     J.  F.  Hickman. 
136,  1902,  The  Hessian  fly  in  Ohio.     C.  E.  Thorne. 
165,  1905,  Experiments  with  winter  wheat.     C.  G.  Williams. 
Oklahoma:    Bui.  47,  1900,  Reports  of  wheat  raisers.     J.  Fields. 
Annual  Report,  1902-3.     J.  Fields. 
Press  Buls.  99,  100.  1903,  Wheat  experiments. 
Bui.  65,  1905.     F.  C.  Burtis,  L.  A.  Moorhouse. 
Pennsylvania:   Bui.  39,  1897,  Variety  tests  of  wheat. 

46,  1899,  Variety  tests  of  wheat.  G.  C.  Watson,  E.  H.  Hess. 
55,  1901,  Variety  tests  of  wheat.  G.  C.  Watson,  E.  H.  Hess. 
67,  1904,  Variety  tests  of  wheat.  G.  C.  Watson,  A.  K.  Risser. 
76,  1906,  Variety  tests  of  wheat.  G.  C.  Watson,  N.  G.  Miller. 
Rhode  Island:  Report,  1894. 

South  Carolina:     Buls.  37,  1898;  56,  1900,  Wheat.     J.  S.  Newman,  etc. 
South  Dakota:    Bui.  77,  1902,  Macaroni  wheat  in  South  Dakota.     E.  C.  Chilcott. 
79,  1903,  Crop  rotation  for  South  Dakota.     E.  C.  Chilcott. 
81,  1903,  The  artesian  well  waters  of  South  Dakota.     J.  H. 
Shepard. 

Some  destructive  insects.     D.  A.  Saunders. 
89,  1904,  Preliminary  experiments  with  vapor  treatments  for 
the  prevention  of  the  stinking  smut  of  wheat.    W.  A. 
Wheeler. 

92,  1905,  Macaroni  wheat  and  bread.      T-  H.  Shepard. 
96,  1906   Forage  plants  and  cereals.     W.  A.  Wheeler,  S.  Balz. 

98,  1906,  Crop  rotation.     J.  S.  Cole. 

99,  1906,  Macaroni  or  durum  wheats.     J.  H.  Shepard. 
Tennessee:    Bui.  2,  Vol.    3,  1890.     C.  S.  Plumb. 

4,  16,  1903,  Influence  of  climate  and  soil  on  the  composition 

and  milling   qualities  of  winter  wheat.     A.   M. 
Soule,  P.  O.  Vanatter. 

Utah:     Bui.  91,  1905,  Arid  farming  in  Utah.     J.  A.  Widtsoe,  L.  A.  Merrill. 
West  Virginia:     Bui.  105,  1906,  Tubercles  on  legumes  with  and  without  cultures. 

J.  L.  Sheldon. 
Wyoming:    Bui.  22,  1895. 

25,  1895,  Results  of  three  years'  experiments  in  cost  and  profit  of 

growing  wheat.     B.  C.  Buffum. 
37,  1898,  The  stooling  of  grains.     B.  C.  Buffum. 
41,  1899,  Some  experiments  with  subsoiling.     B.  C.  Buffum,  W. 

H.  Fairfield. 

48,  1901,  Experiments  in  wheat  culture.     L.  Foster,  W.  H.  Fair- 
field. 
60,  1903,  Wheat  growing  on  the  Laramie  Plains.     B.  C.  Buffum. 


CANADA   DEPARTMENT   OP    AGRICULTURE 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Experimental  Farms  of  Canada,  1898-1905. 
Central    Experimental    Farm,    Ottawa: 

Buls.  26,  1897;  29,  1898;  34,  1899;  36,  1900;  39,  1901;  41,  1902;  44,  1903, 

Results  from  trial  plots  of  grain,  etc.     W.  Saunders. 

Bui.  50,  1905,  The  milling  and  chemical  value  of  the  grades  of  wheat  in  the 
Manitoba  Inspection  Division  crop  of  1904.     C.  E.  Saunders, 
F.  T.  Shutt. 
53,  1905.  Results  obtained   in    1905    from   trial  plats    of    grain,  etc. 

W.  Saunders,  C.  E.  Saunders. 
Cerealist,  reports,  1904,  1905.     C.  E.  Saunders. 

Evidence  of  Dr.  Charles  E.  Saunders  before  the  Select  Standing  Committee 

on  Agriculture  and  Colonization,  1904,  1905. 

Evidence  of  Dr.  William  Saunders,  Director  Canada  Experimental  Farms,  before 
Select  Standing  Committee  on  Agriculture  and  Colonization, 
1902,1900,  1903,  1904,  1905. 
Government  of  the  Province  of  Saskatchewan. 

Bui.  4,  Condition  of  the  crops  at  harvest  time,  Sept.  20,  1906. 


354 


THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


TOPICAL  INDEX  OF  AUTHORS 


Agricultural  implements. 

See  machinery 
Alkali. 

Kearney,  T.  H 

Ladd,  E.  F 

Loughridge,  R.  H 
Arid  farming. 

See  semi-arid  regions 
Argentina. 

Baker,  E.  L 

Baker,  W.  E 

Becker,  M 

Bicknell,   F 

Dike,  G.  P 
Bacteria,  soil  and  grain. 

Edwards,  S.  F 

Metcalf,  H 

Moore,  G.  T 

Sheldon,  J.  L 

Wiley,  H.  W 

Woods,  A.  F 


Bibliography. 
Allen,  E.W 


Becker,  M 

Bolley,  H.  L 

Greathouse,  C.  H 

Hartey,  L.  L 

Howard  ,  L.  O 

Lyon,  T.  L 

Marquis,  J.  C 

Miller,  M.F 

Osborn,  H 

Swingle,  W.  T 
Birds. 

Beal,  F.  E.  L 

Judd,  S.  D 
Bonanza  farming. 

Atlantic  Monthly 
Botany. 

Bollman,  L 

Hitchcock,  A.  S 
Breakfast  foods. 

See  food,  human 
Breeding. 

See  culture 
Canada. 

Laut,  A.  C  ......... 

Nelson,  M.  O 

Roper,  S.  C.  D 

Saunders,  C.  E 

Saunders,  Wm 
Cereal  breakfast  foods. 

See  food,  human 
Chemistry. 

Gilbert, 

Harper 

Kedzie,  R.  C 

Lawes,  J.  B 

Patten,  A.  J  ................. 

Peter,  A.  M  .................. 

Richardson,  C  ................ 

Shutt,  F.  T  .................. 

Snyder,  H  ................... 

Storer,  F.  H  ................. 

Teller,  G.  L  .................. 

Traphagen,  F.  W  ............. 

Voorhees,  C.  C  ............... 


ry. 

rt,  J.  H 
er,  J.  N 
ie,  R.  C 


Whitney,  M 

Wiley.  H.  W 

Wrightson,  J 

Commerce. 

See  commercial 

Commercial  and  geographical  dis- 
tribution . 

Adams,  C.  C 

Bunker,  W.  H 

Ford,  W.  C 

Fuchs,  C.  J 

Grimes,  H.  S 

Lexis,  W 

Juraschek,  v 

Matson,  C.  H 

Mo.  Summary  Com.  &  Finance 

Miiller,  L '. 

N.  Y.  Produce  Exchange 

Payne,  W 

Plumb,  C.  S .'..-. 

Railroad  Gazette 

Rein,  T 

Saturday  Review 

Schumacher,  H 

Sering,  M 

Wiedenfeld,  K 

Cost  of  production. 

Buffum,  B.  C 

Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine.  .  . 

Poggi,  T 

Crop,  influence  on  business. 

Andrew,  A.  P ;  .. 

Crop  rotation. 

Chilcott,  E.  C 

Cole,  J.  C 

Holmes,  G.  K 

Lawes,  J.  B 

Cultivation. 

Buffum.  B.  C 

Dalrymple,  W 

Fairchild,  D 

Fairchild,  W.  H 

Spillman,  W.  J 

Culture. 
Breeding: 

Bessey,  E.  A 

Carleton,  M.  A 

Darwin,  C 

De  Vries,  Hugo 

Gauss,  R 

Harwood,  W.  S 

Hays,  W.  M 

Keyser,  A 

Lyon,  T.  L 

Nature 

Saunders,  C.  E 

Saunders,  Wm 

Shamel,  A.  D 

Swingle,  W.  T 

Webber,  H.  J 

Zavitz,  C.  A 

General : 

Carleton,  M.  A 

Darwin,  C 

DeheYain,  P.  P 

Foster,  L 

Penny  Magazine 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


355 


Saunders.  W 

Seed, 

Change  of: 

Bolley,  H.  L 

Carleton,  M.  A 

Shepperd,  J.  H 

ith,  J.G 


Smith 

Ten  Eyck,  A.  M 
Waters,  H.  J..  . 
General : 

Duvel,  J.  W.  T. 
,G.  H. 


Hicks 

Pieters,  A.  J 
Selection : 
Clark,  V.  A. 
Dabney,  J.  C... 

Hicks,  G.  H 

Lyon,  T.  L 

Webber,  H.  J.. 
Spring  wheat: 

Andrews,  C.  C.. 
Winter  wheat : 
Hays,  W.  M.... 

Keyser,  A , 

Lyon.  T.  L 

Williams,  C.  G.. 
Diseases. 
General : 

Eriksson,  J.. . . . 
i,  E.  M.. 


Freeman, 
Galloway,  B.  T. 

Selby,  A.  D 

Townsend,  C.  O..  . 

Tubeuf ,  K 

Woods,  A.  F 

Rust: 

Annals  of  Botany. 

Bennett,  A.  W 

Bolley,  H.  L 

Botanical  Gazette. 

Carleton,  M.  A 

Eriksson,  J 

i,  H... 


Garman, 

Halsted,  B.  D. 

Hitchcock.  A.  S 

Marquis ,  J.  C 

Smith,  W.  G 

Smut: 

Bolley,  H.  L 

Hitchcock,  A.  S 

Ladd,  E.  F 

Scientific  American 

Smith,  B.  H 

Swingle,  W.  T 

Wheeler,  W.  A 

Dry  farming. 

See  semi-arid  regions 

Durum  wheat. 

Carleton,  M.  A 

Chamberlain,  J.  S 

Chilcott,  E.  C 

LeClerc,  J.  A 

Scofield,  C.  S 

Shepard,  J.  H 

Duties. 

Bradstreet's 

British  Almanac  Companion.  .  . 
Caird,  J 


Knappen,  T.  M 

Lippert,  G 

Paasche,  H 

Elevators. 

Bohm,  O 

Cunningham,  B 

Minn.  R.R.  &  Warehouse  Com. 
Emmer. 

Carleton,  M.  A 

Evolution. 

Allen,  G 

Candolle,  A.  de 

Darwin,  C 

Jackson,  J.  R 

Jesse,  E 

Weldon,  W.  F.  R 

Exports. 

Andrews,  F 

Bovey.  C.  C 

Bradstreet's 

Farmer,  business  relations  of. 

Adams,  E.  F 

Fertilizers. 

Beal,  W.  H 

Hall,  A.  D 

Haworth,  E 

Hutchinson,  W.  L 

Hyde,  J 

Schweitzer,  P 

Street,  J.  P 

Thorne,  C.  E 

Voorhees,  E.  B 

Wiley,  H.  W 

Food,  animal. 

Allen,  E.  W 

Balz,  S 

Cottrell,  H.  M .. 

Wheeler,  W.  A 

Food,  human. 

Bread: 

Atwater,  H.  W 

Current  Literature 

Douglas,  E.  S. 

Johnson's  Univer.  Cy : 

Macmillan 

Merrill,  L.  H 

New  Internat.  Ency 


Paton,  J. 
Scientific 
Shepard,  J.  H.. 
Inyder,  H.. 


American . 


Voorhees,  L.  A 

Woods,  C.  D 

Breakfast  foods: 

Albini,  G 

General : 

American  Cy 

Dalton,  J  C 

Hassall,  A.  H 

Snyder,  H 

Macaroni : 

American  Cy 

Chamber's  Ency 

Johnson's  Univer.  Cy 

New  Internat.  Ency 

Scaramelli,  F 

Skinner.  R.  P,. .  . .  .  .  ; .  . . . . 


356 


THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 


Nutritive  values: 

Albini,  G 

General. 


Edgar,  W.  C. 
Ibert,  J.  H. 
Hartlib,  S 


Gil 


Hunt;T.F.::::::::::. 

Industrial  Commission. 

Klippart,  J.  H 

Lawes,  J.  B 

Lorenz,  C 

ISJ,-*::::::::::::: 


Geography. 

See  Commercial , 

Germination. 

See  growth , 

Grading. 

See  inspection , 

Growth. 
General : 

Galloway,  B.T 

Johnson,  S.  W , 

Livingston,  B.  E , 

Scientific  American , 

Woods,  A.  F , 

Germination: 

King-Parks,  H , 

Ripening: 

Kedzie,  R.  C , 

Roots: 

Shepperd,  J.H 

TenEyck,  A.  M 

Stooling: 

Buffum,  B.  C 

Harvesting. 

Marcosson,  I.  F 

New  Internat.  Ency 

Implements. 

See  machinery 

Insect  enemies,  growing  grain. 
Chinch  bug: 

Howard,  L.  O 

Washburn,  F.  L 

Webster,  F.  M 

General : 

Cooley,  R.  A 

Fletcher,! 

Garman,  H 

Howard,  L.  O 

Marlatt,  C.  L 

Pettit,  R.  H 

Popenoe,  E.  A 

Saunders,  D.  A 

Shipley,  A.  E 

Taylor,  C 

Washburn,  F.  L 

Webster,  F.  M 

Hessian  fly: 

Johnson,  W.  G 

Osborn,  H. 


Stedman, J.  M. 
Webster,  P.M. 

Joint  worm: 

Howard,  L.  O.. 

Webster,  P.M. 
Locusts: 

Bruner,  L 


Howard,  L.  O 

Riley,  C.  V 

Spring  grain-aphis: 

Webster,  F.  M 

Insect  enemies,  stored  grain. 

Chittenden,  F.  H 

Inspection  and  grading. 
England,  C. 


Foering,  J.  O.. . . 

Lyon,  T.  L 

Montgomery,  E. 


.i.^atgomery,  E.  G 

Scofield,  C.  S 

Institutional. 

Experiment  Stations: 

Atwater,  W.  O 

Beal,  W.  H 

Colman,  N.  J 

Crosby,  D.  J. 

Schulte,  J.  I. 

True,  A.  C 

General : 

Allen,  E.  W 

Tri-State  Grain  Growers' 
Association , 

True,  A.  C 

Institutes: 

Hamilton,  J 

U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. : 

Greathouse,  C.  H , 

Smith,  C.  B 

Tisserand,  E 

Insurance. 

Emminghaus, , 

Insurance  Times , 

Minn.  Ins.  Commission. 

Walford,  C , 

Irrigation. 

Seals,  E.  A , 

Bond,  F , 

Buffum,  B.  C , 

Code.W.  H , 

Coffin,  F.  F.  B , 

Culbertson,  H , 


Dennis,  J.  S. 
Elliott,  C.  G. 
Gregory,  J.  W. 

Hay,  R 

Hinton,  R.  J.. . 

Irving,  H 

Johnson,  C.  T.. 

King,  T.  H 

Mead.E 

Nettleton,  E.  S. 
Newell,  F.H... 
Powers,  L.  G.. . 
Ross,  D.  W.... 
Shepard,  J.  H.. 
Stannard,  J.  D. 

Tait,  C.  E 

Teele,  R.  P.... 
Ulrich,  J.  C.... 

Upham,  W 

Vernon,  J.  J.. . . 
,  J.  M... 


Wilson 
Macaroni. 


Macaroni  wheat. 
See.  durum  wheat 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


357 


Machinery. 

Ardrey,  R.  L 

Arnold,  A 

British  Mfg.    Industries 

Casson,  Herbert  N. 
Chase,  Leon  Wilson 
Davidson,  J.  Brownlee 

Farm  Machinery  Daily 

Fitch,  C.  H.. 

Fowler,  E.  M 

Holmes,  G.  K 

Knight,  E 

Ladd,  S.  B 

Maxwell,  G.  H 

Miller,  M.  F 

Minn.  Bu.  of  Labor  Statis.. . 
Nat.  Ass'n  Agr.  Impl.  Mfgrs.. 

Perels,  E 

Pusey,  P 

Retrospective  exhibit,  etc 

Roberts,  I.  P 

Rose,  J 

Scientific  American 

Skinner,  T.  C 

Stabler,  E 

Swift,  R.  B. 


Thomas,  J.  J.. 
i.  J-. 


Wrightson,  _ 
Meteorology. 
Bigelow,  F.  H. 

Burrows,  A.  T 

Soule,  A.  M 

Vanatter,  P.  O 

Wiley,  H.W 

Milling. 

Gilbert,  T.  H 

Girard,  A 

Hoffman,  C.  B 

Neftel,  K 

Nesbit,  C 

Saunders,  C.  E. 

Scientific  American. 

Shutt,  F.  T 

Smith,  K 

Teller,  G.  L 

Wallace,  J.  R 

Wiley,  H.W 

Movement  of  wheat. 

See  transportation. 
Pacific  Coast. 

Holmes,  E.  S 

Port  facilities. 

Andrews,  F 

Price. 

Conrad,  T 

Crawford,  R.  F.... 

Tour.  Pol.  Econ 

Lippert,  G 

McCulloch,  J.  R... 

Noyes,  A.  D 

Peters,  E.  T 

Rogers,  J.E.  T.... 

Spectator 

Stevens,  A.  C 

Veblen,  T.  B 

Production. 

Atkinson,  E 

Kapp.F 


McClure,  W.  F 

Peterson,  C.  W 

Quarterly  Review 

Smith,  T.  T.  V 

Thompson,  C.  W 

White,  H 

Wiedenfeld,  K 

Williams,  J.  R 

Wirminghaus,  A 

Wrightson,  J 

Ripening. 

See  growth 

Russia. 

Allgemeines  statis.  Archiv 

Austin,  O.  P 

Burgel,  M 

Hourwich,  I.  A 

Jollos, 

Mertens,  O 

Rubinow,  I.  M 

Thun,  A 

Rust. 

See  diseases 

Seed. 

See  culture 

Selection. 

See  breeding 

Semi-arid  regions. 

Carleton,  M.  A 

Merrill,  L.  A 

Payne,  J.E 

Widtsoe,  J.  A 

Smut. 

See  diseases 

Soil. 

Bonsteel,  J.  A 

Breazeale,  J.  F .... 


Briggs,  L.  J... 

Cameron,  F.  K 

Dorsey,  C.  W 

Gardner,  F.  D 

Hopkins,  C.  G 

Hummel,  J.  A 

Huston,  H.  A 

Hutchinson,  W.  L 

Jensen,  G.  H 

King,  F.  H 

Ladd,  E.  F 

Means,  T.  H 

Shepperd,  J.  H 

Snyder,  H 

TenEyck,  A.  M 

Whitney,  M 

Soil  bacteria. 

See  bacteria 

Speculation. 

Conant,  C.  A 

Davis,  C.  W 

Emery,  H.  C 

Hill,  J. 

Hutchinson,  B.  P 

Levy,  R.  G 

Mason,  F.  H 

Nelson,  S.  A 

Options 

Passy,  F 

Payne,  W 

Repts.  from  Her  Majesty  s,  etc. 


358  THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


Savons,  A.  E Saturday  Review. . 

Smith,  C.  W Snow,  B.  W 

Stevens,  A.  C Thompson,  S.  P. . . 

Whelpley,  J.  D Veblen,  T.  B 

Steam  power.  Tillering. 

All  the  Year  Round See  growth 

Chambers'   Jour Transportation. 

Stooling.  Baker,  R.  S 

See  growth Brandenburg,  B. 


Supply.  Industrial  Commission. 

Crawford,  R.  F Kucynski,  R.  R 

Crookes,  W Railroad  Gazette 

Davis,  C.  W Walsh,  G.  E 

Drill,  R Varieties. 

Fleming,  O Boss,  A 

Ford,  W.  C Hess,  E.  H 

Giffin,  R Miller,  N.  G 

Grosvenor,  W.  M Risser,  A.  K 

Hadley,  A.  T Scofield,  C.  S 

Hyde,  J Watson,  G.  C 

Jour.  Pol.  Econ Weeds. 

Leiter,  J Dewey,  L.  H 

Marsten,  R.  B Hays,  W.  M 

Noyes,  A.  D Waldron,  L.  H 

Poynting,  J.  H 


INDEX 


Page 
A. 

Acclimatization 49-50 

Acreage: 

Argentina    alo 

England 315 

India 310-311 

Russia 309 

United  States 304 

Adaptation  to  environment 40,  54 

Adulterations  of  flour 301 

Aegilops 3 

Ovato 3 

Agricultural  classes 29-31 

Agricultural  colleges 32 

Agriculture :  « 

Argentina    312 

Australia 315 

Canada 314 

China 31 

Competition  of 30 

Early  conceptions 30 

Europe 31 

Governmental  support 31-32 

India 310 

Methods  of 33 

Middle  West 33 

Nature  of 29-30 

Russia 308 

Alkali   120-121 

Amylum 283 

Analyses  of  irrigation  waters.  .  .  .      141 

Ancient  cultivation 58 

Angoumois  grain  moth 182-183 

Animal  breeding 39 

Animal  power 59,  61 

Anthers 14,  20 

Antiquity  of  wheat 2 

Aphis,  Spring  grain 180-181 

Appendix 321 

Arbitrage 246 

Arctic  Circle 4,  5 

Army  worms 181 

Arnautka  wheat 49 

Ash 26-27,  48 

Associations,  Local  grain  dealers,     217 

Aveneae 

Awns 14 

B. 

Bacteria,  Nitrification 130-134 

Bakeshops   288-289 

Baking: 

Chemical  changes  in 290-291 

Cost  of 293 

Losses  in.... 290-291 

Bananas  as  food 7 

Barley 2,4-5 

Beards 14 

Bibliography _ 326,  354 

Biological  changes  in  growth 18-20 

Birds 154-155 


Page 

Biscuits 297 

Bleaching  of  flour 274-275 

Blight 169 

Blue  stem  wheat 11,  47 

Board  of  Trade,  Chicago 248 

Bonanza  wheat  growing 60 

Bran 16 

Composition  of 25 

Bread 286-293 

Aerated 290 

Ancient 286 

Baking   of 289-293 

Crumb 293 

Crust    293 

Durum  wheat  flour 284 

Fermentation 21 

Gluten 290 

Graham    289-290 

Kinds  of 289-290 

Leavened 289 

Salt  rising 290 

Unleavened 289 

Yeast 287 

Bread  baking: 

Chemical  changes  in 290-291 

Chemical  losses  in 290-291 

Cost  of 293 

Bread  flour: 

Strong 286-287 

Weak    286-287 

Bread  making 287-289 

Ancient 287-288 

Bakeshops 288-289 

Primitive  methods 287 

Processes  of 288-289 

Breeding 33-46 

Co-operative  work  of 45 

Results  of 46 

Broadcast  seeding 65-66 

Bucket  shops 255-258 

Functions  of 257-258 

Operation  of 256 

Buckwheat 5 

Bushel  of  wheat 22 

Buyers  of  wheat 215,  217 

Calls " 243-244 

Car  shortage 

Center  of  production 4,  303-304 

Cereals: 

Origin  of 2-3 

Value  of 7 

Chafif If 

Composition  of 25 

Cheat 151 

Chemical  changes  in  germination,       17 
Chemical  composition 23,  49,  50 

of  one  crop 24 

Chemistry 25-28 

Chess..,  151 


tTHE  BOOK  OF  WHEATJ 


Page 

Chinch  bug 174-175 

Distribution  of 174 

Life  history 174 

Loss  from 175 

Remedies 175 

Classification 8-10,  321-325 

Approximate 9 

Bases  of 9-10 

Geographical  basis 10 

Climate 48-51 

Effects  of 44 

Climatic  influences 20 

Club  wheat 11 

Cockle 153 

Color  of  wheat 50 

Combined  harvester  and  thresher. 

Illustration  of 104 

Combined  plow,  disc  and   seeder, 

Illustration  of 60 

Commercial   charges 213 

Commercial  grades 223-224 

Composition  and 28 

Commercial  grading 221-222 

Commercial  importance  of  wheat,         8 
Common  bread  wheat,  Soils  for.  .        48 

Common  descent,  Theory  of 35 

Common  wheat 11 

Composition : 

Commercial  grades  and 28 

Fertilizers  and 27-28 

Light  and 28 

Seasons  and 27-28 

Consumption   7-8,  284-302 

Europe 319 

Northern  hemisphere 319 

Per  capita 302 

Southern  hemisphere 319 

Corn 2,  7 

Distribution  of w    7 

Indian 6 

Production  of 7 

Selection  of . . . '. 39-40 

Valueof 7 

Corners 249-255 

Actual  wheat 250 

Harper 251 

Hutchinson 251 

International 255 

Leiter 252-255 

Lyon 251 

Speculative 250 

Corn  stones 262 

Corn  trade,  Importance  of 214-215 

Cost  of  production 103-107 

Argentina    105 

Europe 105-106 

India 106 

Itemized  per  acre 103 

Labor  required 106-107 

Per  acre 103-106 

United  States 105,  106 

Crackers 297 

Cradle 79-80 

American 80 

Use  of 80 

Cranose  flakes 298 

Cropping,  Continuous 108 


Page 

Crop  rotation 108-1 1 5 

Ancient 1 10 

Argentina 114-115 

Canada    111,114 

Comparative  utility  of 108-1 10 

Egypt 115 

European 110 

Experiments  in 111,112 

Foreign 114-115 

Japan HO 

Mixed  crops 115 

New  countries 108-109 

Russia 114 

Types  in  United  States 113-114 

United  States.  . Ill 

Crops,  Mixed 115 

Cross-fertilization 40-46 

Artificial 41 

Culms 13 

Cultivation 2,  58 

Continuous 136,  143 

Definition  of 58 

Effect  on  climate 58 

Effect  on  growth 59 

Effect  on  plant 58    59 

One  operation 7 1-72 

Selective  influence  of 58,  59 

Subsequent  to  sowing 72 

Culture 29 

Customs,  Early 73-77 

Cut- worms 181 

D. 

Darnel 152-153 

Dealers 242 

Delivery 244-245 

Time  of 244 

Demand 234-235 

Description  of  wheat 11-24,  321-325 

Deterioration  of  wheat 57 

Development  of  wheat 3 

Dibbling 65-66 

Differentials 192 ,  193 

Discovery 2 

Discrimination,  Railway 218-219 

Diseases 148-169 

Classification 148 

Drought 148 

Excessive  moisture 149- 1 50 

Floods 148 

Fungous 155-169 

Hail 148 

Plant  influences 150-154 

Remedies 45 

Storms 148 

Unfavorable  soil 150 

Weather  influences 148-150 

Distance  seaport  to  primary  mar- 
ket   193-194 

Distribution 7,8-11 

Altitudinal 5 

As  affected  by  soils 47-48 

Cost  of 213 

Historical  and  geographical ....          6 

Latitudinal 4-5 

Longitudinal 4 

U.  S.  by  States 304 


INDEX 


361 


Page 

Diversified  farming 303 

Dockage,  Elevator 154,  224-225 

Domestication 36 

Drill 67, 68 

Disc  press 67 

Hoe 68 

Press 67,68 

Shoe 68 

Typical  farm 64 

Drilling 65-66 

Drought 148 

Durum  wheat 8,  10,  1 1 

Districts  of 48 

Exports  of 307 

Field  in  North  Dakota 292 

Milling  of 307 

Production  of 307 

Root  development 13 

Rust  resistance 169 

Soils  for 48 

United  States 307 

Varieties 56 

Dust  Collector 275 

E. 

Early  Genesee  Giant 44 

Early  ripening 45 

Economic  position  of  wheat  grow- 
ers         33 

Einkorn 11 

Elevator  certificates 245-246,  248 

Elevators 203-204 

Baltimore 209 

Boston 209 

Buffalo...  206-207 

Capacity  of. 205,  208-209 

Chicago 206 

Consolidation  of 207 

Dealers' 204 

Dockage 154,   224-225 

Duluth 206 

Farmers' 204 

Floating 208 

Function  of 203 

Galveston 209 

Illustration  of 202 ,  236 

Kansas  City 206 

Legislation  concerning 209 

Lines  of 204 

Minneapolis 206 

New  York 208 

Pacific  coast 204-205,  209 

Philadelphia 208-209 

Railroads  and 207 

Seaboard 208-209 

St.  Louis 206 

Terminal 205 

Types  of 204 

Embryo 1 5 ,  21 

Emmer 11,  56 

Endosperm 15,  21,  25 

Enemies 150-169 

Equator 5 

Evolution 2-3,  35-36 

Discontinuous 35 

Thepry  of 35 

Experiment  stations 32 


Page 

Exportation,  Cost  of 213 

Exports : 

Argentina 319 

Argentine  flour 313 

Argentine  wheat 313 

Atlantic  coast 189-193 

Atlantic  ports 305 

Australia 315 

Belgium ,      316 

Chile 316 

Early 196 

Egypt 316 

Factors  increasing .^^—  196 

Gulf ..^-rrrr7.189-193 

Gulf  ports 305 

Increase  of 196 

India 311,  319 

Leading  ports 305 

Netherlands 316 

Northern  Africa 316 

Oriental 197 

Pacific  coast 194,  196-197 

Statistics  United  States 305 

Roumania 316 

United  States 304-305 

Uruguay 316 

Western  United  States 304 

World 318 

F. 

Farm  animals 7 

Farmers'  institutes 32 

Farming 383 

Diversification  of 303 

High 109 

Intensive  and  extensive 108-1 10 

Farms,  wheat 7 

Fedelina 296 

Feeding  of  wheat 301-302 

Fertility,  Constancy  of 11 

Fertilization 20-21 

Fertilizers 142-148 

Ancients  and. • 124 

Application  of 134-135 

Benefits  of 126-127 

Commercial 134-136 

Drilling  of 135 

Effects  of 142-145 

Extent  of  use 124 

Germination  and 142 

Irrigation  and 141-142 

Kinds  of 135-141 

Laws 145 

Miscellaneous 140 

Need  of 134 

Plant  food  and 143-145 

Prices  of 146 

Statistics 146 

Theories  of 125-127 

Wasted  by  rivers 148 

Yield  and 143-145 

Fertilizing: 

By  sewage  waters 141-142 

Cost  of 146 

Definition  of 124 

Value  of  animals 136 

Field  of  durum  wheat 292 


362 


THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


Page 

Field  of  wheat,  Illustration  of 112 

Fife  wheat 11 

Fire 148 

Fixation  of  qualities 43 

Flax,  Selection  of 39 

Flour 21 

Acidity  of 21 

Adulteration   of 301 

Bleaching  of 274-275,  285 

Brands  of 285-286 

Bread 286-287 

Commercial  grades 285-286 

Comparative  values  of 285 

Composition  of 26,  299 

Durum  wheat 284 

Entire  wheat 284-285 

'    Grades  of 275 

Graham 284 

Hard-wheat 283 

Pastry 284 

Patent 270,  275 

Self-raising 285 

Soft-wheat 283-284 

Flour  beetles 184 

Flour  moth 183-184 

Flours,  Different  uses  of 283 

Flour  yield  of  wheat 277 

Flowering 20-2 1 

Flowers  of  wheat 14 

Food  of  plants 126-127 

Food  of  plants,  Fertilizers  and.  .  143-145 

Food  supply,  Scarcity  of 316 

Food  taken  from  soil  by  plants.  .  .      147 

Food,  Wheat  as 7,  8,  286 

Frosts 149 

Frumity 283 

Fultz 11 

Fungous  enemies 155-169 

G. 

Gambling , 255 

Garlic 153 

Germination 16-17,18,22-23,  142 

Germination  and  Fertilizers 142 

Germ  of  wheat 15,  25 

Glume-spot 155 

Glumes 14 

Gluten 27,    273,  283 

Gluten  content 10,  48-49 

Grades: 

Commercial 223-224 

Composition  and 28 

Contract 222-223,  224 

Contract,  Gresham's  law 225 

Uniformity  of 223 

Grades  of  flour 275 

Grading 221-222 

Grain  aphis 180-181 

Grain  beetles 184 

Grain  dealers 242 

Independent 217-218 

Grain  dealers'  associations: 

Local 217 

Rules  and  practices  of 218 

Grain  moth 182-183 

Grain  privileges 243-244 


Page 

Grain  railways 189 

Grains  in  bushel 22 

Grains  in  spike 15 

Grain  trade: 

Development  of 214 

Importance  of 214-215 

Grain  vessels,  Nationality  of 197 

Graminese 2 

Granary  weevil 182 

Grape-Nuts 298,  300 

Grass: 

Classification 2-3 

Family  of 2-3 

Origin  of , 2-3 

Grasshoppers  (See  Locust) 176-179 

Green  bug 180-181 

Gresham's  law 225 

Growers  of  wheat 29-31,  33 

Growth : 

Heat  units  and • 11-24,  127 

Period  of 23-24 

Processes  of 127 

Rainfall  and 23-24 

Temperature  and 23-24 

Guano 137-138 

Gulf  exports 189-193 

Gypsum 139-140 

H. 

Hail 148 

Handstones 262 

Hardness  of  wheat 51 

Hard  spring  wheat 53 

Hard  winter  wheat 10 

Harrowing 70-7 1 

Objects  of 70 

Harrows : 

Ancient 70-71 

Disc 71 

Modern 71 

Primitive 70 

Tooth 71 

Harvest  customs 73-77 

Ancient 74-75 

European 74 

Modern 75-77 

Harvesters,  Combined 90-95 

Definition  of 90 

Horse  power 92 

Illustration  of 104 

Steam •...  92-93 

Stripper 91 

Use  in  United  States 92 

Use  of 90 

Use  of  stripper 91 

Harvesters,  Self-binding 87-89 

Classes  of 87-88 

Definition  of 87 

Illustration  of 34,  128 

Low-down 87-88 

Modern 87,89 

Patents  on 88 

Harvesting : 

Implements  of 78-94 

Maturity  of  wheat  for 78 

Outfit  complete 93-94 

Primitive  methods 78 


INDEX 


363 


Page 

Harvest  laborers 75-77 

American  migration  of 75-77 

European  migration  of 75 

Typical   American 76 

Harvest  period 45 

Customs  of 73-77 

Risks  of 73-74 

Harvest  time  succession 76-77 

Hay,  wheat 302 

Header 80-84 

Cutting 82-84 

Definition  of 81 

Early 83 

Gallic 81.83 

Illustration  of 82 

Kinds  of 81 

Modern 83,84 

Stripping 81 

Use  of 84 

Header  barges 82 

Header  binder 89 

Header,  Use  of 89 

Mississippi  valley 84 

Pacific  coast 84 

Hedging  sales 246 

Hessian  fly 170-174 

Descripti9n  of 170-172 

Distribution  of 170 

Effect  on  wheat 172 

Introduction  of 170 

Life  history 170-172 

Losses  from 172-173 

Remedies 173-174 

Homotyposis 35 

Hordeae 2 

Hot  waves 149 

Hot  winds 149 

Humus 7 .  t 129-130 

Crop  rotation  and 129-130 

Supply  of 129 

Hungarian  milling 270 

Hybridization 40-46 

Basis  stock  of 41 

Botanical  classes  and 43 

Characteristics  affected  by 45 

Composite 44 

History  of 43-46 

Of  races 41 

Process  of 41 

Results  of 42 

With  rye 45 

Hybrids: 

Characteristics  of 41 

Garten's 42 

Natural 40 

I. 

Importance  of  wheat 6-8 

Qualitative 6 

Quantitative 6-7 

Importation  of  seed 50 

Imports :  2. 

Great  Britain 315 

Rome 316 

World 318 

Improved  varieties,  Permanence  of  46 

Improvement  of  wheat 33-46 


Page 

Index  of  authors,  Topical ,      354 

Indian  meal  moths 184 

"  Inland  Empire" 93 

Insect  enemies 170-187 

Growing  wheat 170-181 

Losses  to  growing  grain 181 

Losses  to  stored  grain 184 

Remedies,  Growing  grain 181 

Remedies,  Stored  grain 1 84- 185 

Species 170 

Stored  wheat 181-185 

Inspection 219-220 

Institutional  evolution 29-33 

Insurance  . 186-187,  226-227 

Grain  in  transit 226 

Growinggrain — Europe 186 

Growing  grain  — United  States,  186-187 

Marine 227 

Natural  destroyers  in  field  .  .  .  186-187 

Stored  grain 226 

International  grain  trade   305 

International  wheat  trade 318 

Irrigated  wheat 51 

Irrigation 116-123 

Alkali 120-121 

Ancient 115-116 

Cost  of. 121 

Early  United  States 117 

Historical 115-116 

Methods 1 19-120 

Modern — Foreign  countries. . .  116-117 

Modern — United  States 118 

Problems 118-119 

Rainfall  and 122 

Semi-arid  region  of  U.  S 121-123 

Irrigation  water: 

Composition  of 120-121 

Fertilizing  value  of 146 

Supply  of 118 

Italian  paste 296 

Joint  worm 181 

Jones'  winter  fife 45 

K. 

Kernel 15-16 

Kouskous 283 

Kubanka 11,  51 

L. 

Labor 59    106-107 

Cost  of 59 

Human 59 

Required  for  production 106-107 

I  ake  shipments 194 

Land  plaster 139-140 

ALeaf  blight 169 

Leaves 14,  18 

Lime 138-139 

Line  elevator  companies 204 

,    Locusts 176-179 

Breeding  grounds  of 177-178 

Life  history 178-179 

Plagues  of 176-178 

Remedies , 180 

Rocky  Mountain 177-179 


364 


THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 


Page 

Loose  smut 159 

Loss  from : 

Natural  destroyers 185 

Poor  seed 54 

M. 

Macaroni 293-296 

Composition  of 296 

Food  value  of 293 

Processes  of  manufacture.  .  .  .295-296 

Wheats  used 293-294 

Macaroni  industry 294-295 

Foreign  countries 294 

United  States 294 

Macaroni  wheat : 

Field  of 292 

Machinery : 

Distribution  of 99 

Harvesting 78-94 

Manufacture  of 09 

Manure 136-137 

Deterioration  of 137 

Map  of  wheat  in  United  States.  .  .          9 

Margins 244,260 

Market: 

Local 240 

Primary 188,  219 

Speculative 241 

World 241 

Marketing 214-233 

Argentina 231-233 

Canada 232-233 

Foreign  countries 228-233 

India 230-231 

Methods  of 215 

Russia 228-230 

Markets 240-241 

Marl 139 

Material  in  acre  crop 24 

Maturity,  early 11 

Meal  snout-moth 184 

Meal  worms 184 

Measurement  of  wheat 22 

Mediterranean  flour  moth 183-184 

Meridian  bisecting  acreage 4 

Middlings 274 

Middlings  purifier 274 

Midge 175-176 

Migration  of  wheat 1-2,  4 

Mildew...  169 

Milling 262-282 

Bleaching  of  flour 274-275 

Bolting 267 

Cleaning  of  wheat 273 

Dust  collector 275 

Early  inventions 267 

Early  United  States 267-268 

Fundamental  processes 273-274 

Gradual  reduction  process 270-271 

High 268-269 

Long  system 271 

Low 268 

Middlings 269 

Milling  proper 274 

Mixing  of  wheat 272-273 

Modern 267-275 

Present  processes 271-275 


Page 

Milling,  Roller 269-270 

Selection  of  wheat 271-272 

Short  system 271 

Spring  wheat 269 

Time  required 276 

Winter  wheat 269 

Milling  industry 279-282 

Argentina 282 

Australia 282 

Canada 282 

Census  United  States 280 

Foreign  countries 280-282 

Geographical  location  U.  S..  .279-280 

Great  Britain 281 

Hungary 280-281 

Leading  states  U.  S 279-280 

Minneapolis 279 

Minnesota 279 

Netherlands ; 282 

New  Zealand 282 

Orient 282 

Russia 281-282 

United  States 279-280 

Milling  products 275,  283 

Mills: 

Ancient 263 

Capacity  of 276-277 

Cattle 265 

Early  United  States 266-267 

Handstones 262 

Large  modern 272,  278 

Large  typical 276-277 

Mortar  and  pestle 262-264 

Quern 264 

Saddle  stones 263 

Slave 265 

Types  of 262 

Water 265-266 

Wind 265-266 

Minnesota  No.  169  wheat 11 

Minnesota  163  wheat ' 22 

Mixing 225-226,  272-273 

Moisture  content 26,  50 

Moisture  effects 50 

Moisture,  Excessive 149-150 

Mortar  and  pestle 263 

Type  of 262-264 

Moths: 

Angoumois  grain 182-183 

Indian  meal 184 

Meal  snout 184 

Mediterranean  flour 183-184 

Motor  power 59-6 1 

Animal 59,61 

Electricity 61 

Human 59 

Steam 61 

Movement  of  wheat 303-319 

Eastern 189-192 

Export  United  States 304-305 

Financiering  of 227-228 

Internal  United  States 304-305 

Southern 192-193 

World 316-319 

Multiplication  of  wheat 21-22 

Mummy  wheat 15,  23 

Mustard 153 


1M1JEX 


365 


Page 


N. 


Name  of  wheat 1-2 

Natural  destroyers,  Losses  from.  .      185 

Natural  environment 47-51 

Natural  Food  Company 300 

New    varieties 32 

Nitragin 132 

Nitrate  of  soda 139 

Nitrogen 131-134 

Fixing  of 131-134 

Pure  cultures 133-134 

Nitrogen  bacteria 132-134 

Artificial  distribution  of 133-134 

Classes  of 132 

Description  of 133-134 

Nitrogen  content 22 

By  soil  inoculation 132-134 

Nitrogen  famine 131 

Nitrogen  free  extract 27 

Nodes 13-14,  17 

Nomenclature 8 

Non-shattering  wheat 11,  45 

Noodles 297 

Northern  grown  seed 41 

Northern  limits  of  production ....         4 


O. 


2,5 
7 


Oats 

Consumption  of 

Organs  of  reproduction 14 

Oriental  trade 197 

Origin  of  wheat 1-3 

Biological 2-3 

Etymological 1 

Geographical 1-2 

Historical 2 

Outline  of 

Authors,  topical 354 

Bibliography 327 

Wheat 321-325 

Ovary 14 

Ovulary 20 

P. 

Pacific  coast  exports 194 

Pasturing  of  wheat 72,302 

Per  capita  consumption 302 

Period  of  growth 17,  23-24,49 

Phosphoric  acid 138 

Physical  properties 22 

Pit,  Chicago 248 

Plant  breeding.  Father  of 43 

Plant  lice,  Wheat 176 

Plant  pathology 481 

Plow 63 

Common  hand 63 

Coulters 62 

Early  American 61,  62 

Early  European 62 

Electric 63 

Fowler 63 

Gang 63 

Modern 63 

Patents  on 63 

Primitive 61-63 

Sulky 63 


Page 

Plowing 61-65 

Depth  of 65 

Popular  prejudices ...  62 

Tail 62 

Time  of 63-65 

Polish  wheat 3,  8,  11 

Pollen 20-21,  40 

Potash 139 

Potatoes  as  food 7 

Poulard  wheat 11 

Powdery  mildew 169 

Predictions  of  wheat  shortage.  .316-317 

Prehistoric  wheat 2 

Price 234-261 

Argentina 313 

Communication  and 237 

Competition  and 237-238 

Exportation  and 238 

Factors  of 234 

India 311 

Reactions 235,  237 

Transportation  and 237 

Visible  supply  and 238-239 

Price  determining  influences 241 

Primary  grain  markets 188 

Primary  market 219 

Pringle's  Defiance 44 

Privileges,  grain 243-244 

Production 7,  303-319 

Argentina 311-313 

Australian 315-316 

Austria-Hungary 316 

Belgium 316 

Brazil 316 

Canada 313-315 

Chile 316 

Egypt 316 

Europe 319 

Factors  of 108. 109 

France 316 

Germany 316 

Increase  of  in  Russia 308 

India 3 10-3 1 1 

Italy 316 

Land  values  and 303 

Limits  of  in  United  States 303 

Manchuria 197 

Mexico 316 

Movement  of  wheat  and 303 

Netherlands 316 

Northern  Hemisphere 319 

Roumania 316 

Russia 307-310 

Siberia 309 

Southern  Africa 316 

Southern  Hemisphere 319 

Statistical 304 

Statistics,  Argentina 313 

Statistics,  England 315 

Statistics,  India 311 

Statistics,  Russia 309 

Statistics,  World 317 

United  Kingdom 315 

United  States 304 

Uruguay 316 

World 316-319 

Products  of  wheat,  Animal  food,  301-302 


366 


THE   BOOK   OF   WHEAT 


Page 

Profit  on  raising  wheat 106 

Protein 27 

Puts 243-244 

Q. 

Quern 264 

R. 

Railroads: 

Discrimination 218-219 

Elevators  and 207 

Grain  lines 189 

Rail  shipments,  statistics  ....  194-195 

Rain  belt  in  United  States 122 

Rainfall  in  United  States 121-123 

Ready-to-eat  wheat  foods 297-301 

Commercial  success  of 300 

Composition  of 299 

Consumption  of 299-300 

Kinds  of 298 

Processes  of  manufacture 298 

Reaper 84-86 

Bell's 85 

Early  American 86 

Early  English 85-86 

Definition  of 84 

Illustration  of 306 

Modern  self-rake 86 

Use  of 86-87 

Red  wheat 10 

Regermination 17 

Resistant  to  climate,  Wheat 11 

Rice 2 

Rice  as  a  food 7 

Rice  weevil 182 

Ripening 20,21 

Time  required 23-24 

River  wheat  tug,  Illustration  of .  .      191 

Roller  milling,  Process  of 269-270 

Romanow  wheat 5 

Roots 11-13,  18 

Root  system 12 

Rotation  of  crops 144-145 

Russian  cactus 151-152 

Russian  soils 307-308 

Russian  thistle 151-152 

Description  of 152 

Dispersion  of 151 

Extermination  of 152 

Rust 162-169 

Black  or  stem 162 

Crown 162 

Development 166-167 

Dispersion  of 165-166 

Distribution  of 166 

How  damage  results 167 

Kinds  of 162 

Life  history 162-166 

Losses  from 167-168 

Red  or  orange  leaf 162 

Remedies 168-169 

Resistance  to 45 

Resistant  wheat 10 

Resisting  varieties 168 

Spores,  Growth  of 163-164 

Spores,  Kinds  of 163 

Spores,  Viability  of 165-166 


Page 
Rye 2 

Consumption  of 7-8 

Food 7 

Production  in  Russia 309 

Winter 4-5 

S. 

Saddle  stones 263 

Salt 140 

Salts  and  germination 16 

Sawflies 181 

Scotch  fife  wheat 47 

Scythe 79-80 

Hainault 79 

Use  of 79 

Seacoast  wheat 49 

Sea  level  wheat 5 

Seasonal  effects 51 

Section  of  wheat  grain 16 

Seed i 51-69 

Advantages  of  exchange 54-55 

Amount  of,  per  acre 69 

Bed  for 65 

Dealers  in 53 

Deterioration  of 54-55 

Effects  of  good  and  poor 52 

Evils  of  exchange  of 55 

Importance  of 51 

Importations 56 

Purchase  of 51,53 

Wheat  for 5 1-56 

Seeders 66-69 

Ancient 68 

Early  English 66-67 

Force  feed 67,68 

Patents  on 67 

Wagon 67 

Width  of 68 

Seeding 17,  65-66 

By  nature 69 

Depth  of 70 

Time  of 69-70 

Selection 3,  36-40 

Artificial 36 

Characteristics  influenced  by.  . .  39-40 

Early 37 

Heavy  seed 39 

Incidences  of 36 

Light  seed 38 

Minnesota  station 37 

Natural 36,  40 

Results  of 37-40 

Self-binding    harvester,     Illustra- 
tion of 34,  87,  128 

Self-fertilization 21,  41,  43 

Semi-arid  region  of  U.  S..  121-123,  307 

Semi-hard  district 9 

Semolina 295 

Sewage  waters  as  fertilizers 141-142 

Sharlock 153 

Shipments  out  of  country 304 

Shocking 90 

Shorts,   Composition  of 25 

Shredded  Wheat  Biscuit 297-298 

Sickle 78-79 

Smut 155-162 

Early  remedies 155,  157 


INDEX 


367 


Page 

Smut  Growth  of 157-158 

In  ancient  times 155 

Kinds  of 155 

Loose 159 

Losses  from 161-162 

Remedies 159-161 

Remedies,  Expense  of 161 

Remedies,  Results  of 161 

Stinking 158-159 

Smut,  Loose — Remedies: 

Modified  hot  water  method.  .  .160-161 

Smut  spores,  Viability  of 159 

Smut,  Stinking — Remedies 160 

Copper  sulphate 160 

Corrosive  sublimate 160 

Formalin 160 

Hot  water  treatment 160 

Jensen  treatment 160 

Smutted    straw,  Cross  sections  of,      158 

Soft  wheat 44 

Soils  for 48 

Soft  wheat  district 9 

Soil  bacteria 130-134 

Soil  nitrogen 48,  130-134 

Soils 144 

Amount  of  plant  food  stored  by,      144 

Analyses  of 124-125 

Climate  and 50-51 

Climatic  effects  on 58 

Composition 144 

Composition  and  plant  life.  ..  124-127 

Effects  of 44 

Humus 129-130 

Improvement  of 143-144 

Influence  of 47 

Inoculation  and 132-134 

Method  of  analysis 127 

Moisture  and 130 

Physical  condition  of 59 

Preparation  for  sowing 65 

Preparation  of 58 

Russian 307-308 

Structure  of 126 

Texture  of 126 

Types  of 47-48 

Unfavorable 150 

Sonora  wheat 53 

Southern  grown  seed 49 

Southern  wheat  district 9 

Sowing 65-66 

By  nature 69 

Methods  of 65-66 

Time  of 69-70 

Species 11 

Specific  gravity 22 

Speculation : 

Bear 243 

Bull 242-243 

Decreasing  importance  of.  .  .  .260-261 

Evils  of 249-258 

Foreign  countries 258-259 

Functions  of 246-247 

Legislation  and 258 

Machinery  of 242-244 

Manipulations  and 258 

Price  fluctuations  and 260 

Results  of 259-261 


Page 

Speculative  market,  Rise  of 241 

Speculator,  Characteristics  of .  .  .  247-248 

Rise  of 242 

Spelt 3,  8,  11,  56 

Spike 14-15,  17 

Spii<elets 14-15 

Spring  and  fall  wheat 51 

Spring  wheat 10 

Spring  wheat,  hard 11 

Squarehead  wheat 11 

Stamens 20 

Standard  of  living 7 

Starch  content 48-49 

Starchy  wheat 10 

States,  Production  in 304 

Steam  in  agriculture 61 

Steam  planting,  Illustration  of .  .  .        60 

Steam  plowing 63 

Stem,  Growth  of 13 

Stigma 14,  20,  40 

Stinking  smut 158-159 

Stocks  in  farmers'  hands 304,  318 

Stooling 17 

Storage 201-213 

Farm 201 

Local  market 203-205 

Pacific  coast 204-205 

Primary  market 205-208 

Russia 229 

Seaboard 208-209 

Storage  capacity: 

Baltimore 209 

Boston 209 

Buffalo 206-207 

Chicago 206 

Galveston 209 

Kansas  City 206 

Minneapolis 206 

New  York 208 

Philadelphia 208-209 

Portland,  Oregon 209 

St.  Louis 206 

Storage,  Charges  of 209-213 

Atlantic  coast 211-212 

Inland 209,211 

Pacific  coast 212 

Seaboard 211-212 

Storage,  Foreign 201 

Storage,  Illustration  of: 

Pacific  coast  farm 210 

Pacific  coast  river 216 

Primary  market 236 

Small  elevators 202 

Storms 148 

Straw 10,20 

Composition  of 25 

Fertilizer  value  of 140 

Fodder 302 

Miscellaneous  uses  of 302 

Per  acre 24 

Straw  worms 181 

Sub-humid  region  in  U.  S 121-123 

Subsoil 13 

Sub-soiling 65 

Sugar  beets: 

Seed 57 

Selection  of 39-40 


368 


THE  BOOK  OF  WHEAT 


Summer  Fallows 110 

Supply 234-235 

Causes  of  variation 234 

Farm 304,  318 

Shortage  of 185,316-317 

Statistics .  . . . 304-305,  3 18 

Visible 305 

Sweating  of  wheat 97 

T. 

Theory  of  mutations 35 

Thistle,  Russian 151-152 

Thistles 153-154 

Three-field  system 114 

Threshing 94-99 

Animal  power 94-95 

Complete  outfit 98,  99 

Definition  of 94 

Early  methods  of 94 

Flail. 94,95 

Threshing  machines: 

Early  American 96-97 

Early  European 96 

Early  Scotch 95 

Evolution  of 95-97 

Illustration  of 98,  156 

Modern 97,98 

Tillering 17 

Toll 277,  279 

Trade  in  wheat,  World 318 

Transactions,  Volume  of 248-249 

Transportation. 188-200 

Argentina 232 

Canada 314 

Canal 191 

Competition  in 189-192 

Distance  seaport  to  primary 

market 193-194 

Farm  to  local  market 188 

Lake 191,  194 

Local  to  primary  market 188-189 

Out  of  county 304 

Pacific 194 

Pacific  coast  vessels 197 

Primary  market  to  seaboard.  .  189-194 

Rail  statistics 194-195 

River 191-193 

Russia 228-229 

Seaboard  to  foreign  market.  .196-197 

Shortage  of  cars 195 

Stages  of 188 

Water 189 

Water,  Illustration  of 191 

Transportation  charges 197-200 

Atlantic  ports  to  Europe 199 

Chicago  to  Liverpool 199 

Chicago  to  New  York 198 

Discriminations 200 

Farm  to  Chicago . .  .  .  ; 198-199 

Producer  to  consumer 198 

Triticum : 

Monococcum 11 

Polonicum 3,11 

Sativum  compactum 11 

Sativum  dicoccum 11 

Sativum  durum 11 

Sativum  spelta 3,11 


Page 

Triticum ,  Sativum  turgidum 11 

Sativum  vulgare 1 1 

Turkey  red  wheat 11,51 

Turkey  wheat,  Evolution  of 40 

Twine,  Use  of 89 


U. 

United     States     Department     of 

Agriculture 31-32 

V. 

Value  of  wheat 7 

Argentina 313 

United  States 304 

Variation 35-36 

Characteristics  subject  to 35-36 

Inducement  of 351 

Plant  and  soil 58-59 

Processes  of 36 

Varieties 10-1 1 

Vermicelli 296 

Viability 22-23 

Victoria  wheat 6 

Visible  supply 238-239 

Canada 305 

United  States 305,  318 

United  States  and  Canada 318 

World 318 

W. 

Warehouse  receipts 245-246 

Water  in  composition 26 

Water  supply  for  irrigation 119 

Weeding  of  wheat 72 

Weeds 150-154 

Classification  of 150-151 

Dispersion  of 150 

General  remedies 154 

Losses  from 154 

Weevil,  Granary 182 

Weevil,  Rice 182 

Weighing 221 

Weight  of  wheat 22 

Weissenburg  wheat 56 

"Whaleback,"  Illustration  of 191 

Wheat: 

Red  winter 56 

Selection  by  fanning  mill '   4CT 


fcprmg. 
Value  of. 


Wheat  bulb  worm 181 

Wheat,  fall,  Soils  for 48 

Wheat-field.  Illustration  of 112 

Wheat  foods 286 

Wheat  harvesting  seasons 77 

Wheat  hay 302 

Wheat  lands,  Russia 307-308 

Wheat  midge 6 

Wheat  plants,  Effects  of  seed  on.  .        52 

Wheat  production,  Center  of 303-304 

Wheat  products,  Animal  food.  .301-302 

Wheat  scab 155 

Wheat  seed  "running  out" 54-55 

Wheat  thief 153 

Wheat  trade,  Importance  of 214-215 

White  wheat 10 


1 


INDEX 


369 


Page 

Wholewheat 283 

Wild  garlic 153 

Wild  mustard 153 

Wild  wheat 1 

Winter  wheat 5 

Winter  wheat,  Hard 11 

Winter  wheat,  Soft 11 

World's  consumption 7 

World's  famine  of  wheat.      185    316-317 
World's  production 7 


Yeast 287 

Yeast  plant 287,  290-291 

Yeast  substitutes 291 

Yellow  berry 155 


Page 

Yield . . . 21-22,  1 00-103 

Australia ......  100,  315 

Canada 314 

Early  statistics. V     102 

Factors  decreasing. .......... . .      100 

Factors  increasing.  ......... ...     100 

Fertilizers  and. 142-145 

France 101 

Great  Britain 315 

Most  favorable  weather  for.  ...      103 

Statistics  of . 101 

Volunteer  crop .'....      103 

United  Kingdom 102 

United  States 102 

Yielding  power. .10 

Yield  of  flour. ..  ,     277 


tETURN 


CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 

202  Main  Library  642-34 


CAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

1 -month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling  642-3405 
•-month  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books  to  Circulation  I 
Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  due  date 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


fiV  2  11976 

.  *  *       *&  4 

f*3M    1 

7 

46ULS/JZ, 

>?   ^ 

8E&8E.WZ9 

DFC  ;• 

(£C.C1SI  JUNZ  5  '80 

APR  10  ?nQ5 

ORM  NO.  DD  6,  40m,  6'76 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKE 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

*•-, 


